■ 4^ 

FENIAN 



HEROES AID MAPJYES. 



Edited, with aw Histoeical iNTEODrcTioN 03 
*'^TnE Stedggi-e foe Ieish Nationautt," 



JOHN SAVAGE, 

AtmZCm Oy "'03 AST> *43, THB MODETIN BEVOmXtOWAKT HISTOHT A3a> 



GERTRUDE KiSTLEK 

MEMORIAL LIBRARY 

PATRICK DONAHOE, FRANKLIN STREET. 
1S63. 



? 'iii! !iti?y i W|MiJii|ji<];i4ytjpj,Wi^ i if^^^ 



TO muCE LOST COPY 
AUG 2 1972 





q6V 



>..S 



^ 
% 




Eatered accortlir.g to Act of Congress, in tta year 1S63, 
Bi- PATKICK DONAHOE, 
In tlio Clcrk'B Oa"co ol' ;' ^ District Court of the District of MaEscichu 



O SCLLrV'AX, U'DRIDE i v. .ta-^j 
STKP.KilTYl'EnS, 



lir offering this volume to the public, a few worcls of explana- 
"''in ara deemed neoessaTy, uot so much for Its appi;.-' co, aa for 
I he niTangoment of its contents. 

As to its appearance, the state of Irish affairs calls for some 
record, and as, owiug to peculiar circumstances, the nearest ap- 
proach to a perfect chronicle which can now be offered, is an 
account of fh' -e ^^■ho brou,>j,ht about the.crisis and are gallantly 
EliU'z^liii;^- ;':i Ji it, the presiMit form was adopted. 

The arran^LiiK-nt is not entirely what might be desired by a 
stiict clironologist; but as the data bad to be obtained from 
T,-i>.l(.>Iy scattered rofcrcnciLS and correspondents — the -uieuds or 
i'l.niilics of those cor,iinc;uorated — and as the pages went to the 
; ix'?3 ^Yhe•n wriHia, it v/as found impossible to follow perfect 
rlironological order. As a general rule, the characters are grouped 
as they acled together, ao'i '!ius help to illustrate each others 
lives; and a slight hint will enable the reader to follow the his- 
t'jiy of the Irish struggle in a direct coui'se, and to fill up, so to 
srca\\, the outline given in t!ic llislorical Introduclinn. 

Tims (1) in addition to Ahat is said there of Dse .-liort in MS, 
tVij flcelches of Doheuy, Jleany, O'Mahoiiy and Steplieus, fur- 
'.'.;-r iUusLrate the doings of that period. (2) Mr. Luby's 
liuUce of PhiUp Gray gives the efforts R'hich imme- 



rUKi''ACI!, 



diatoly fdUow.:;! the sc;iUeiing of " Yomig IrclLiud." (3) Tlu) 
;;ketch of J. O'Doi-ovan (Rossa) prcrcnts the rise of tlie "Pliro- 
nix Society;" while the progress of the Feuian Brotherhood, and 
the more recent events — risings, arrests, escapes and trials — con- 
nected with it, arc narrated with intelligible fullness iu the notices 
of the respective 1 . ' mo,rt3'rs of the most historical trans- 
actions. 

No effort has been spared to secure and present the most 
antliontic data. Tli« tiles of tiro Dublin Inshmwi, Nation, and 
('mi!- h''' raid, and lliose of the New York Irinh People, Insh- 
.'.II.' !';• an, and Boston .Pilot, have been found useful, cJpeciall . 
\v!i.-U their reports aral statements wore corroborated by competent 
■\vilnesses, or indorsed by actors in the scenes related. A quantity 
of interesting persoml and political history has been placed at the 
disposal of the writer by associates and relatives of many of the 
heroes and martyrs, of which free use has been made to give 
value to these pages. Among those to whom special thanks are 
duo, are General Jolua O'Neill, for' oITioial documents ; Colonel 
O'Connor, Captains O'PLorke, Condon, and Conyngham, and 
Messrs. T. B. ITeiKssey, (of Boston,) Waltor M. J. O'Dwyer, 
jr. J. Ilefi'ernan, Wia. .T. JilcCIure, M. Moynahan, D. O'Sullivan, 
and 31. Cavanagh, of Now York. ■ 

J. S. 



CHAPTER I. 
misi! rnrsciPMis and Esatitfu isteu'est. 
■d Policy 10 Crcntc an English Interest in Irclana-Compl'ications 
; outorConnscations— AUinJico ol'tlie Irisli wiUithe Stuarts-All 

! i':iiiirs A-niii;:t ilKjInsli^- The Penal Laws-ProtehlLUiiralri.ils-^ 
' I . iiii-olmlct WoltoTor,./ i-iii, - . ■ ■■ < 

")• \S2 a Failure- li- 
1 VKUMjfiJS r-ji;..ri'' I 

~j ■' Union," Dr. Jdms.n I'lul r,yrnu oil-Tlio 'i i.Oi l^Kilrs in Franco 
onapai-lo ami Talleyrand -Ei..i>u:t'3 i;il)"Uii)H-i)avis on CafQolio 
neipalion and Kepeal- O'Conni-l.l ajid Ciatlan -Young Ireland— 
s_l,it:],Coiil'edciation •Thel''aniiiicand Coercion- ililthel and the 



CILU'TER II. 
vcin.iis AKD KKCi.isii iKTBr.EST— Continued 



lid Youn 


■r '■■ ' ' ' ■' :. vo aVictOry-The released P'-' ' 


■= -i"-! the Ex- 


ilos at 


. IIS cft'orls to keep upaN 


■ iiion— 


TheFc 


1 -lis ]5o!;inninc':lndExi 


' nyres3 


at Chir.i 


.,,1 i>„,.,,. ..,.1 .>•.,. ., 'J, 


.J ii.e Poles 


and Uic 




■iew Constitn- 


tion-S, 
Hepurt . 




h'Otlicrhood — 
of Afl'airs in 


Ireland - 


-■Iho 1. ii. Ji.— James rtlephcns ami his Coiinec 


tio'n with the 


Or;:-aniz; 


\lion— ExlcnsiveDisalToctioiis-Keizure uf llie /// 


.vA I'tople and 


its Edit. 


• ■■-- ^ ->- ■'•! over the C.iuntr,- ' ' ■> ;'..H;..n 


f'nivjrcss in 


I'llilad-: 


' u's Report-C;ii 


■ ' niged— 


.DilVi'ri, 


: "Prcfident" 


'U in an 


"Iri;di 1 


'... . ; .. 1 .iiindianParty"- - .■'■ ; ,...,....; 


.:..rcslhe01d 


Cn-lilii 


tiiiii. in.ipin/il by :.r'-;:M-y Conv.'ni ion-Kxciteinc 


'lit in Ireland 


i:,cr.;a.-^ 


;i - 'vM'-l jii.l K; I'l; :Uepheiis-T.ord Wodchou: 


:C on the Con- 



>;'ir.u'y-Th.., Country nut f;:ie unless the ll;li^n.i anr,,nsy suspeiuled— 
Ikl'aie on tliut Pleasure -John Bright, Stuart 'MiU— The Irish Jtcmhcrs 
-.'olin B. Dillon— The O'Douoghuc— Passajjo ol the Bill 

CHAPTER HI 

TUT. IXSURUIXTION IX IKEi.AND- Ai-^lIiKICAN STMrATHY. 

' ■ '.'I the Suspension of the Ilchras Coj;«/.v-Thc News in .'Vinerlca— 
.Vrrrival of Stephens in New Y'ork — 0'j\Iahony retires— Invasion of 



.'Km Party Diornpt Steplicns' Plana— His Jtis?loii a 
■Ccn-y— Searchingvcsscls for Fcninna— C-eiicral Iiisur- 

:r -a Trcl:mfi— FrceV: ii:-fic-n of Pmvis!fiii:il Cnvera- 



rj. ,,,,,, ,ion— 
The Lauio )a u. 3. ' oiign'ss -I'.c.-ointioiis oi ^^yn^pathy i-tporlcd by 
Ce:i. Banks— Speeches and Vote on it— Tlie Queen declares Ireland 
Tranquil and the Pecple Loyal—Contradicted by !Mr. j^ronsell and o^tr. 
Briglit— EemarUable Speech of Mr. Monsell— Bright declares that Ireland 
should not be Traiiqirl— Sixth National Congress held iu New York- 
Savage elected Chief J5j-ectitive— Remarks ; SO 

THE ANCIENT FENIANS. 
The T'enians— Who Wove T'licy— Their Duties, Manners and Customs— 
The Oasianic Society 109 

COLONBL THOMAS FRANCIS BOUEKE. 
Hlmmet and Uourke~I\Icvement3 of Bourke's Pamily in America and 
Canada -At Business— A Family Picture— Joins the Fenian Brother- 
hood after the V/ar— At the Third Congi'oss— Snccess as Organizer for 
Manhattan District— R'-=ign3 — AV'hy he Went to Ireland— Assigned to 
the- Tipperary District— The Rising— Captured at Ballyhnrst Fort— In- 
dicted for nigh TrcasoTs — Trial — Evidence of the Informers Massey and 
Corydon— Great Speech in tlic Dock — Touching Letters to his Mother- 
Description iu his Cell , 121 

COI/ONEL THOjMAS J. KELLY. 
Birth and Youth— A Printei— Famous Printers— Starts the Nashville Demo- 
crrti —Flies from Tennesece for his Union Faith — Joins the Army in Cin- 
cinnati— Wounded— Pronsoted— Signal Officer on General Thomas' SlaU" 
—Health Broken- Enters the Fenian Cause-First Military Envoy to 
Irttland— On Tour of Inspection — Supervises Stephens' Escape— Labors 
m America— Difference with Stephens— Returns for the Figlit in Ireland 
—Letter ou the Aims of the " Provisional Government." Ita 



CAPTATN JOHN M'OAFFERTY. 
Arrested— Tried— Ilalf-Aliom Jury because he is an American— Acquitted 
— Envoy from Ireland to America— .'Vddrcss at the Great JonesMVood 
Meeting in New York-Goes Ili^-k TlieAmurat Cliesler-Sccond Ar- 
rest-In the Dook-Corydon's Evi.': ICC— Fuiiud Guilty— Speech iu the 
Dock -In his Cell 177 

COLOyEL JOHN J. OCONNOR. 
Born on Valcnl'a I.-^!:v.! '" ■! ,:'i< to America— Runs off and Joins the 
Union Army— L.ci; ■ :"!ion— Gallant Action at Spottsylva- 

nia— Wouudcil at Uu-l ■ ' ■.! -J/iiat Lieutenant— Captain— Seriously 



Wounded A^ain at Petetsbnrg-In Con 
tcred Oat— Goes to Ireland— Orgamae ■ 
in tlio Itonso of Lords-Koporter Arrc,-; 
niTjctions-O Connor sent to America~i 
.'auiziug Tour ••• 



id of his Regiment— T.In3- 



CiVl'TAiN MORTIJtER MORIAKTY. 
First Fenian Organizer in Canada-Arrested Going to Campo Bello-Es- 
capes-Goes to Ireland-In Kerry-Arrested ou his Way to Take Conv 
mand-Causoofhis Arrest-What Followod-Tnal-Ev.dence of the Spy 

Talbot- t'oimd Guilty— Sentence 

JOSEPH NOONAN. 
"Out with O'Connor "-iVrrcsted in London -Marvelous Escape from hi3 
Captors-Re-Arrested at Atherstane-ISrousht to Dablin-Uiot m Killar- 

ney— Trial— Sontcuco ■- 

CAPTAIN JtlCtl.'VET, O'ROEKE. 
"O'Rorke. «!;..Bceclvcr"-T:irth-t-a,nily Emigrate to ^fe^v York-Mem- 
ories of the Boy Make hi.u a Rebel -Joins thePhu=nix IJrigade-t.nters 
the United States Service -Iri.U Legion -Sad Scene at "^^ i;'"'^ ^' 
SpoKsylv.ania-IIis Fatlu.c KUled-Taken Prisoner-Mustered Out-Goes 
to Irelaud-llis Duties in Englaud and Ireland -Narrow Escape from 
Corydon— Sent to No w Yo r!;. 



223 



STEPriGS JOSEPH ME.VNY. 
Birth-Early Writings for the Press-Publishes a Volume of Poems at Sis- 
teen-O'ConncU's Reporter-Establishes the IriA National Magazme- 
In the Chibs-OK r,., /„-;,^i r..?,«.,c-Brenan an,l 'tcviy Tost the R.ght 
of the Police to s-I lice ;r:aianal Journals-A.rc ;;,-l Under the buspen- 
sion of ;/.,^.«. r.,r-, lS15-Rdeased-Journ.U.nr-iMnigrates to the 
United Rl.tes -I'Mitur of the Toledo (Ohi ) Com„uv e>e/-Oentre-At tho 
Third Cun.'ress -A Senator -Address to the Parent Trunk of 1 eniamsm 
-Resolutions at Jones' Wood-Goes to England-Arrcstcd-Tried for 
Treason-Felony-Fiuo Speech in the Dock-E.-cposes Overtures Made to 
Uim to Betray the Fenians-Sentenced 231 

CAPTAIN P. J. CONDON. 
Yu-'h and Scliool Days-Emigrates to America-Enters the Army -In tho 
r.i-h r-ri'-ade-Goes to Ireland-A-. rested-Correspondence with U. S. 
Con<ul-Liberatcd-GoC3 a Second Tiuie to Ireland-Ai rested Again- ^^ 
Tried-Acquitted ''^* 

n:VS.R 0-NElI,L CRO\YLEY. JOUM EDWARD KELLY, CAPTAEM 
JOHN McCLUEE. 
Three Fenians give Battle to the Waterford Column and Police— Sketch of 
Peter O'Neill Crowley-Martyrdom of his Uucle, Father O'Neill-Tho 



3 . comEifis, 

jr.nvtvi-'s ncir— n;? ni;li Clmrnctor— Skelcii ci' .Tfiliii Eflwflrd Kollr" 



-rin. 



Iho Ti 



KuwT..i-I;-Joias 11. ■ ... . I ■ 
Goes to Irulniid— At l:\i-ks i:MOrk:uln-i> : ' -i'-i C'n.wli^y, Kelly mul -.Ic- 
Clure ill the Mcuiitaiiie-Fhlit in Kile!", ny Woods- Cipluvc of J.fcCliiro 
niul Kelly— Dcatli of Ciu<vlcy— His ;i.Mir,ei;il-P(ipu!ar S5nip:.Hiy--JIc- 
Clure and Kelly in tlio Boct— Manly Speeclios— Sentence ; 

MICHAEL DOIiENT, ©ENEEAL JIICHAEL COKCOIiAN, JOIIN 
O'JIAnONY, JjUIES STEPHENS. 
Slietch of Michael Dolicny— Toiitli at tlie Ploiifjli— Desire for Knowledge- 



Studies Greek and talin- 
tcd to the Eai'— ^'al^ 
Toinig Ireland Pai ly, 
Escaiics to France and ' 
lirlaiid-Dealh. Skcl.li < 
- -In Iho Constaijulary-J' 
;l. Orderly Sergeant, T.i. 



r.rndon— Writes for tlie 



it rmlu- 

M,n,-,„V3 



mill 1 ■ '■' :• ■ -D./alii ..1' (j'jMai.dnyV : ' ' ' ■'':(• 

ran: ■ '.A'. • .y-Firftldias on llic I,m 1- 

tor- r . 1 () ;:'iivs-Joiued by Sava_re ; .,f 

Muuloi,.;n - :,iM,;;s ill Sej.f. inluT-Pl ojccis llie lielease (.lUlnnni— 

Perilous Escapo-To Wales-To France. Sketch of James Steplicns— 
Civil Engineer-In Killcenny in MS-Takes Cbnrte of O'Donohuc en 
rot.lc to Smith O'Brien— Renrains with the Latter— At Killcnonle and Bal- 
lingarry— On the Hills— Esc-pes to France— O'Mallony and Slephcilsiu 
Paris-Join a Eevolnlionaiy Society— Q'JIaliony a Gaelic Tutor— Stc- 
plieiis the Ereneli Translator cf Diekens- O'^rahony Gees to America- 
Stephens to Iivlai!d-Aire.Mr--i;einnlialrs niiii-h [aw refoie llie Mag- 
istrales- Ksraie fiem Fris. -i-In Amerita JJrlii. nielit-O'Malieny Ho- 
lines his I'lC: cut Pot-ition I 

Tno:\as claeke luby. 

loins Young Ireland in '48, and Gives up his Worldly Prospects- Tn a 
New iroveincnt in '40— Arrested— Paa'iotism vs. Family Patronage- Na- 



323 



SSI sis^rsj :z.tfTisszpf?^ 

I'liilip Gray by Mr. Ltiby 

PHILIP GKAT. 

llluess— Death 

JOira O'LEAEY. 

The Inspiration of Tipperary-Uome InnnenceB-O'Leary tiMan of Means 

Cone-e-Goes to F,ance-To America- Eeturns to London and 

^ „d-Enth.isiasmiB the Irish Cause-Spreading the Fenian rganl- 

at n-T^ /r...Pe..,e-Tb. Sagacity with wbich >t-C-dneted- 

Arrested-In Couvt-The Trial-Speech m the Dock-Sentence 

JEP.E^IIAH- O'DOKOVAN (PvOSSA). 

, _,. . 1 , ci-;i,t,erefn -National 'V'iews 01 Eossa 

Birth a"d i'-iK-.-ii. ■•--''=■ •>;-■■■ ; i .; Qiiaracter and Pro- 

t"~'- " ■ ,,ul Cork and Kerry 

6" ,, (Agreem) Convicted 

, ,1 e Unless Agrecm is Liher- 

'"'' ,. ,, is lUiiminalion for the Prince of Wales— Pa- 

"'-'' •" " , ' ,," ! , 7 "^ lo --Tew Y.,rk--Eeturns-A Manager of tha 

', ' " " ,•■ Tiefiance of the Court 

Cruel Treatment in 

,u;r Moynahan, Colo- 



, i'.J. IJ 



el .0. .1. De 



CIIAELES JOSEPH KICKIIAM. 

' , . - ' ;,(-ni3 Loveof Enral 

His rainily--:-:'! .■ecnien- ^^^ .^^ '.18-Literature 

Sports -In r:.e i^iiMis ■'- ,\aty— Treachery of the 

— Espoutes I--e.'di sanu . ^^ .^p.,, ,,„,_j^^j.i.gst_Ti.ial-Derend3 

i;::;!;:irs;!:edit H^D^ct^-Sent^ieo-Cruel Treatment in Prison... ; 

DENIS DOWLING MHLCAHT. 
, T, , • tv -rnrmpr-FenianPropairandist-Sludies Mcdicine-His 
'Fine ]!^::^c:^rli^n^-l^'^'^ ^- 'he Bock-Colloquy with 
theJudae-Guilty-Sentence-SMfferi 



m-rs iu Prison— 'vV lit of Error . 



JOHN 

Flood Ar. 

the Or; 

LiberaleU- -.. 

loimd Guilty—' 

1* 



T-DWAV.D DUFFY, MICHAEL CODY. 

' . . .,,,... , ■ . „s-Posi 



nd Cody 



GEXEKAL JOIIH O'NEILI,. 

ion at CIcatibiet— Emi^rjic! tot' "3 — At Basiueoa— 

-' 1 th V 111 1T1 ■nni— [he Pebelhon-Ser- 

ho tir Till tunnl ot lUe 5th In- 

111 11 n Biilllii^tmi 1 ir— Sick 

1 uu -Vlii-onn— au Repre- 

it - u Ii 1 I r inula —He 

til 1 — 1 n It I ort Erie 



DTL vr^iio\s i\ Tnn dock 

1 Pikomakci— John I I i^in— Biym Dillon— John I ^nch- Jcre- 



iiiiixll U'Oonovan— Ihonii 
a. S. Cus.iy (-'ThoGlUcb 



ii^gn— Chiilo-i Uiili'n ood O Cm nell— J. 
T )— "MlichiLl OR ,11-1- John \ nncaly— 
pftc— Coindma OMnony— G Dwyet 
- lULl GnmUl— n lUnm Tiancis Eoan- 
- Junes rioud — Uu^li Ti m(.ia Crophy — 



i) AT-ro PUN". 



-A nested— The "Council of 
Artluir Fori'csU'i'. Gen. Ta 



tiAHING ESCAPES. 

1 ;>;i ,-in-!ii I ■ ■ All Active Fenian Cenlro—'i'.'niinderl at 

iila:!ht--An'e£!t : Alcath Tlosplt.al— IIi3 E^cne iV,,M it. 

'!o"i>l T.conanl ^ . .Ue Dvoghcda EisinL;—:iIy=i ■,;..;! i Ap- 

■ ' in a Hon ■"■, iumI i--\.-ape from it— .Arrest of Colom^l T. ,J. 

I Caplain Daeey in !Mancliester — I?cinandcd— Crowds in Coiiit 

iMlfm tiio Pri'ion y-m nandciiffod .ind Gnarded by Police— 

;:.;!■! ^' ', " r • ' -"]i^ ■\'-;m Broken Open and the Frison- 

- i: I. ,. . Cai'lain Dacoy. Caplain Lawrence 

r. - ; -i:. (cd— Coinmitled for Trial— Bold and 

I'l' TUV: -lOlUXS UO?B." . 



>\ il.l.l \M ,r. NAGl.S AND .JOHN' W.\RR13>f. 
ArresSed— Position as American CStizens- What :3 Citizeuehip. 



PHE STKUGGIE WK mm lATIONAlITL 



CHAPTER I. 

ffilSn lARBCIPEES AMD ENGLISH INTEEEST. 



The Stuart Policy to 
growing out of C'jm*1 
English Parties ayaii 
r-wirt, irolviienx.-i'i'' 



-■rt i^iv li di Iiilcresl in Trolaud-Cuinplicationt) 

I iho Irish with the Stuarts— AH 

,1 ■. -, , Loiial Laws— Protestant Patriots— 

■ •■. ' ■ M ■/ -To Tone puts Irish Politics on tho 

. :, nts, Dissenter.?, CaHiolic3 

■ -Mnals-The "Union," Dr. 

, .■ -Buonaparte and Talley. 

lie Kmancipatiou and Repeal — 

i,.,.is_lrish Confederation— Tha 

, iiigof'lS. 

-Etcmr-Two" and " ^uncty-ElgM" stand out pvonv 
iuently in Irldi lust.-'y The last quarter of the 
HMileenth century is a monumental era-recordmg 
iAvement of the legislative independence, the 
n. 1-.-. uf the civR u'ar, nrvl tho ext;n':'tion of the 
Irish r.rliainent. Few, / Mstory, look 

Wondthesc great evcpl ihe t.voccu- 

tui'ics previous, clieio 
cious, a romantic and remorselcso hi.tury m the de- 



^^Ms cannot .cn.,n.bl,- bo neconutcd national aL 
'"oiigli they wpiT- if n,>,„„ i ' 

•i.n, of ti,. r ■ " ^^ ™'''' "« """"■■■'i «. 

,, ■■"'■"""""=- »"s™»,Ics«l,.„d polit- 

l"L".^but,vl,„„,re„„l„Ilyi„,ig„i„g, 



HISTORICAL rSTEODTJCTIOH. 



i; 



conciliai-G thorn. Whilo the English Protestants and 
Catholics wcvo thus afraid .-ind watchful of each 
other on religions gronnds, as the Government pa- 
tronijied or persecuted them respectively, tliey had, 
at the same time, an identity of interest in hating, 
■watching, and miiting against the natives. 

On the other hand, the memory and resnlt of con- 
fiscations and pillage had overcome, if they had not 
totally swept away, aU the tolerant amenities which 
a common religion might be supposed to protect. 
The Irish Catholic hated the English Catholic as 
much as the English Protestant feared both. The 
old Irish were jealons of, and would not coalesce with, 
the Irish of English descent; while distrust on every 
--i>Io created and excused unnatural apatliy, where it 
did not inspire ignoble treachery. But for these 
feuds and follies Cromwell could not. have struck 
terror throughout the island, sacrificing not only the 
ri'ish, biii. the Catholics of English extraction, who wd 
■lot loss antagonistic to the older natives than hirase: . 
n-mmwell beat tlic Stuarts in the field, so did 
liine them in the magnitude of his confisca- 
tions, lie signalized it by blood and tears in the 
four provinces. ■ He extended the Plantation of Ul- 
ster, divided Leinster and ^Inuster among his soldiers 
and money-hMv' ,., .,_:_ -. , those ho had not time to 
massacre to "Hell or Connano-ht." 



FEXIAN i;.:ivOE3 AND IMAETTfiS. 

Oliver's death and bho Eestoration of the ILmav^ 
O'- ^^"d the Stnavts, brought soane nneasiness to the 
^^ntan settlers. Tb.e Loyalists .vho had lost their 
properties supporting the Stuart cause in Trel.nd 
claimed the restitution of tlieir estates. Th:, ,.„„ld 
have hcen just, hnt it v.ould also have interfered .vith 
the establishment of aa "English interest in Ireland," 
bv giving power and i:illnence into the hands of Irish 
Chieftains. These laud claims were su^ected to te- 
'l^ons routine, forms, G.iuivocation, and finally an Act 
i Settlement, which, passed by a Parliament from 
'M.'li Catholics were excluded, nafuvally !', :,,r,.,l n 
' -i-ests save those of Protestants. 
Thus the unfortunate and beggared Catholic cava- 
■.<.-ho luKl supportc.1 Charles the First, ^vere denied 
'ignition orrestitutiottwhenliis dynasty was restor- 
■ The successful enc-mics of fhailes beggared the 
li-..h Catholics for supporting him. The successful 
"■--^ "i Charles kept diem ia beggary. A compli- 
oircunistanees itill controlled the destinies of 
'Jicso insulted people to the Stuart interest; and they 
had the further ill-fate cf shedding more blood, and 
Ireely spilling their own f.r that ungrateful race in tlio 
succeeding reign. Their wrongs and their errors forc- 
ed them to join with James the Second, because the 
Crora^veIlians (as the settlers under " the Protector" 
and their descendants were called) and Protestants 



HISTORICAL IHTKODUCTIOl-r. 



13 



espoused the cause of "William, to sa,vc their holdings 
in Ireland, already put in jeopardy by the repeal of 
the Act of Settlement, nnder which they had revelled 
in the forfeited estates of the Irish victims of the four 
previous reigns. The exigencies of the English planter 
and Oromwellian land-owner gave hope to the ejected 
Irish Catholic, and he attached himself to the fortunes, 
or rather, as it proved, misfortunes of James, not 
through any great faith in him, or love for him ; but 
simply because it v,-a3 the only opportunity of striking 
a blow at the English interest, as represented by the 
adherents of "AVilliam of Orange — that very English 
interest which it was the subtle purpose of James him- 
self to perpetuate. Through a consciousness of the 
doable part ho was playing, James, while he threw 
hirnselt' on the faith of the Irish, was so distrustful of 
them, coupled with the desire to conciliate soino of the 
rrotestaut leaders, that he disbanded sever;d Irish re- 
giments soon after liis arrival. He was a mean and 
irresolute leader, seeking to achieve by a self-delnsive 
vacillation, which he thought diplomacy, the po-^ver 
he should have grasped by an assured victory, IJo 
better indic:;t'ion of his character is needed than that 
given by Sarsfield .a the retreat from the Boyne, when 
James's distrust of his adherents breaking forth, the 
Irish officer exclaimed: "Exchange but kings, and we 
fight the battle over again." 



i'J 



FESI'JT aEEOES AND SliUlTTTjg. 



ii which tlie English interest in Tre- 
l.-iii(l £to<jd duiiri^- the 17illiamite war, and until the 
Treaty of Limerick, -svarned it against being fonnd in 
such a dangerous position in any rLitnro enrergeney. 
To prevent the possibility of a recurrence, the Penal 
Laws were established— a code whicli, as a deep stu- 
dent and shrewd political philosopher of Irish birth, " 
^vho devoted his life and intellect to the glory of Eng- 
land, Edmnnd Bui-ke, said, "was a machine of wise . 
and elaborate contrivance, as well :iitted for the oppres- 
sion, impoverishment and degradation of a people, and 
the debasement in them of human nature itself, as 
over proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man." 
This terrible legal extermination of the L'ish emanated 
less from intolcranee than inhumanity, for the con- 
tri^'crs were too crafty to be fanatics, and only heart- 
less and remorseless enough to be despots, in the widest 
and meanest acceptation of the term. Intended to 
send all Catholics to the grave, the Penal Code took 
hold of them in the cracUe. 

The children of Catholics could not bo educated in 
Ireland save by Protestant teachers, and could not be 
sent out of Ireland without being guilty of a Penal 
oifenco. Catholic children were to be educated in the 
English interest or not at all -—their brains were to be 
kindled by the light of Protestant wisdom, or left in 
total darkness. 



HtSTOBIOAX arrEODlJCTION. 



IT 



Every profession, save that of medicine, was forbid- 
den to the Catholic. Even though educated by a 
Protestant, the Catholic student or scholar could not 
seek the reward of cultivation in any save one of the 
liberal professions— unless he disclaimed his father's 
religion and claimed his father's property. 

In the trade and commerce of all corporate towns, 
Catholics were held as pirates and outlaws; being 
legally exclxrded from joining or participating therein. 
In these towns, a Catholic could not sell anything 
save himself. 

i^To Catholic could hold a long lease, or purchase 
land for a longer tenure than thirty-one years. 

jMo Catholic could inherit the lands of a Protestant 
relative, or own a horse of greater value than five 
pounds. If he ^vas possessed of a valuable animal, 
any Protestant jockey or gentleman, or both in one, 
could fancy it and take it by paying five pounds. 

A Catholic child, becoming a Protestant, could sue 
his parents for maintenance, the amount to be decided 
\>y the Court of Chancer;. 

An eldest son becorniiw- :'; x rutestant made his 
fitlicr a tenant for life, reversion in fee being secured 
to the convert, with a proviso limiting tiic portion of 
all the rest of the family to one-third. 

Pi'iests were hunted like ^volves, and a reward and 
stipend given to any who would bccuii.o a lamb within 
tlio Cromwellian fold. 



^■;jn' 



13 



FE^"I.V^" HEKOES Ai-D jrAKTYES. 



Davis lias well exntomi2;ed these Penal Laws in 
verse : 

"They bribed tbe flock, they bribed the son, 
To sell llio priest and rob the sire ; 
Their dogs were taught alike to run 
Upon the scent of vi-olf and friar. 
Ainong the poor 
Or on the moor. 
Were hid the pious and the true — • 
■\Vliile traitor knave, 
And recreant slave, 
Had riches, rank, and retinue."- 

The history of Ireland, during the Penal Days, is 
dark and gloomy enough. Occasionally we find great 
utterances from noble Protestant men in behalf of the 
general rights of the kingdom ; such as Molyneux' Cass 
of Ireland, Swift's Drapier Letters, and Dr. Gharies 
Lucas's persistent protestations 'against the encroach- 
ments on the Constitution. Mol}iieux' brave little 
book was burned by the common hangman ; a reward 
was offered for the discovery of the Drapier, and his 
printer arrested ; and Lucas had to exile himself into 
England, to escape the laws enacted by and for the 
English interest in L-eland. A still stranger commen- 
tary on the laws of those days is afforded by the fact 
that the principles for which Lucas had to fly from Ire- 
land were extolled in England, and drew from such a 
cast-iron Tory as Samuel Johnson, the strongesf^en- 
comiums. Indeed, Johnson's allusions to Lucas are 



HISTOEIC^VL INTEODUCTION. 



19 



quoted to show that the former was greatly misrepre- 
sented by those who regarded him as " abjectly sub- 
missive to power." "Let the man," says Johnson, 
" thus driven into exile, for having been the friend of 
his country, be received in every other place as the 
confessor of liberty ; and let the tools of power be 
taught in time, that they may rob, but cannot impov- 
erish." 

Though having a patriotic purpose none of the en- 
deavors of those able men might be accounted na- 
tional in the correct sense of that idea. Molyneux' 
was perhaps the most so, though Swift's subtle, blunt, 
and polished x^hilippics against the introduction of 
"U^ood's half-pence, created the most universal excite- 
ment, and succeeded in accomplishing the object 
sought. The labors of those trusty men are famou3 
because they were famous in their day. Tliey were 
ahead of their surroundings in vigor of conception and 
bokhicss of expression, and deserve all praise. It re- 
mained, however, for Theobald Wolfe Tone to give a . 
positive character to the Irish mind in politics. Other 
and able men looked to concessions. He alonp re- 
garded Eights. 

They ^vere hampered by illustrathig ideas which in 
various forms already existed. Basing his views solely 
on the Pights of Ireland, and not contemplating the 
welfire of England, with w\\\d\ he deemed he had no 



20 



FENIAN HEE0E3 AND MASTYE3. 



concern, Tone brcatLed a new life into and unveiled a 
vast and fresli purpose to those who desired the hene- 
fit of the Irish people in Ireland. Others had fought 
parties, and for successes which left large portions of 
the people in as dark despondency and degradation as 
. before. Tone labored to unite all, and as he said, to 
substitute the common name of Irishman in place of 
the distinctions which had been used to keep them 
asunder. He withstood the temptations of mere }'ioli- 
tics as a means of personal advancement, and discarded 
the overtures made to him by leading parliamentarians 
of the day. The ground upon which they stood was 
confined, the prospect presented was naiTOw, because 
the purposes contemplated were selfish and purely self- 
reflective. 

When Tone surveyed the state of Ireland he saw 
lier inferior to no country in Europe in the gifts of na- 
ture; blest with a temperate sky and a fruitful soil; 
intersected by many great rivers ; indented round her 
whole coast with the noblest harbors; abounding with 
all the materials for unlimited commerce; teeming 
witk inexliaustible mines of the most useful metals ; 
filled by four millions of an ingenious and gallant peo- 
ple — with bold hearts and ardent spirits ; posted riglrt 
in rhc track between Europe and America, within fifty 
miles of England and three hundred of France ; yet 
with all these great advantages " unheard of and un- 



KTSTOraCAL INTKODUCTION. 



21 



>'own, w;tL',nt pride or power, or name; without 
.-.-.hassadorB, ;u-rny or navy; not of half the conse- 
quence in tlir; empire, of which she has the honor to 
,'.ake a part, ;vlth the single county of York, or the 
i.,,{a and w<;ll. regulated town of Birmingham." He 
iruly argued these were mortifying considerations. 

The so-call.d " revolution" of 1YS2 had been accom- 
, j/.Mied. Hu.ry Grattan, backed by the arms of the . 
volunteers, UA wrung from England the concession 
(i,;,t no pow<-r liad the right to make laws for Ireland 
l,^,t, the Kin;.', r,<irds, and Commons thereof; but the 
IrUh rarliaiucnt became only the shadow of the Eng- 
II.l, „ne. T!,<: a.-hlovcment of Grattan left the power 
</ii a broadir l,;,als than before in the hands of the Pro- 
l.,t!nit apc.MHinney. Tone "read aright the effects of 
t!.<., "revolution ;" and had the courage to speak the 
t) nth about it,. ICight years after it had been on trial, 
!.,■ :.;,ys: "TI.c Revolution of 1^82 was a Eevolution 
! Ich enablMl Irishmen to sell, at a much lugher 
pi.e, their ]u„u>v, their integrity, and the interests of 
lii.lr countiy'; it was a devolution, which, while at 

Mruke it doubled the value, of every borough-mon- 

I in tlic ldn;nh.m, left three-fourths, of our country- 
in. II slaves -x: it found them, and the Government of 
ii'liind in tho base and wicked and contemptible 
In. II, Is, who liad spent their lives in degrading and 
I'luudcring ber; nay, some of ■■^'hom had given their 



22 



FEX^LiX HEKOES AND 1LUITYK3. 



last A'ote decidedly, though hopelessly against this our 
famous Revolution. Who of the veteran enemies of 
the country lost his place or his pension ? Who was 
called forth to station or office from the ranks of the 
Opposition? Ifot one! The power remained in the 
hands of our enemies, again to be exerted for our ruin, 
■with this difference, that formerly we had our distress- 
es, our injuries, and our insults gratis, at the hands , 
of England; but noAV we pay very dearly to receive 
the same with aggravation, through the hands of Irish- 
men ; yet this we boast of, and call a Revolution !" 

This revolution concentrated power in the hands of 
the aristocracy and lifted no weight from the necks of 
the people. The position of the three great classes 
into which the inhabitants of the island were divided 
will show to any candid mind tlie truth and force of 
Tone's deductions. 

The Protestant party had been for more than a cen- 
tury in easy enjoyment of the church, the law, the 
revenue, the army, the navy, the magistracy, the cor- 
porations, and all institutions receiving or extending 
patronage. Not one-tenth of the population, and de- 
scended from foreign plunderers and usurpers, they 
alone beheld security in maintaining an English inter- 
est in Ireland ; and England, profiting by their weak- 
nesses, augmented their fears, kept rliem in aj state of 
perpetual trepidation, gave them her protection, and 



HI3T0EICAL INTEODUCTIOX. 



23 



took in exchange the commerce and the liberties of 
Ireland. The events of the American Revolution em- 
boldened the Catholics and Presbyterians, and forced 
the Protestants into some slightly beneficial measures 
of redress, but they remained attached to their pro- 
tectors, a party property, an aristocracy. 

The Dissenters — double in numbers to the Protest- 
ants— ^vere chiefiy manufacturers and traders, and did 
not believe their existence depended on the immuta- 
bility of their sla^ashness to England. " Strong in 
tlieir numbers and their courage, they felt that they 
wove able to defend themselves, and they soon ceased 
to consider themselves as any other than Irishmen." 
They formed the flower of the Yolunteer Army of 'S2, 
and were the first to demand Reform. 

The Catholics were numerically the -most formi- 
dable, embracing as they did, the peasantry of three 
provinces, and a considerable portion of tlie business 
class. The exactions of the Penal Laws had left them 
but a small proportion of the landed interest. " There 
was no injustice, no disgrace, no disqualification, moral, 
political or religious, civil or military, that was not 
heaped upon them." Under, such a system, it is no 
wonder that the peasantry were both 7norally and phy- 
sically degraded, and the spirit of tlie few remaining 
gentry broken. 

Tone aspii-ed to infuse into the Catholics a spirit 



21 



?£.S1AN HKE0E3 AKD MAKTXES. 



of civil ■<.:,■] religious liberty. The overwhelming in- 
justice of f!,<;ir position appealed powerfully to his 
sense of r'.yhi as a man as well as an Irish-born man. 
Tlis desif; y/as to unite them with the Dissenters, and 
thus pre.-/;fit to the party representing the government 
and the (■/Ah of English connection, a broad, popular 
front on v.tiich toleration would be written in letters 
of liglit. His objects and means were thus lucidly in- 
dicated. " To subvert the tyi-anny of our execrable 
govern in '-./it, to break the connection with England, 
the nevcr-f;ii]ing source of all our political evils, and 
to assert th'; independence of my country — these were 
my object;!. To unite the whole people of Ireland, to 
abolish tlio memory of all past dissensions, and to sub- 
stitute t)i(; common name of Irishman, in place of the 
denomiiiMi(,ri3 of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter 
— these v/cro my means." 

Here v,i; ti;ive the well-defined plan upon which the 
Society of 'llie United Irishmen was founded. It was 
a boM ;iii'l /liighty step towards a true nationality to 
disentaiT'lc politics from religion in those days. Tone's 
plan Bunii'iiinted the sectional difficulties which had 
made tbc i: land for centuries alternately a prey to re- 
morsclci-;-; (|<'prcdation on the one hand, and as savage 
retriijulJon on the other. To unite the elements de- 
scended from such recklessly discordant pai-entage — 
to lift tlicm out of their age-fostered ar^i blood-auoint- 



niSTOEICAL INTi;0DUCTI0N. 



25 



cd passions, into a passion for an ennobling common 
object — to bind them as close in friendship as' they 
had been knit in fight, was an original, daring, and, 
judged by the obstacles to be overcome, almost sub- 
lime scheme. 

Tone founded the first Society of United Irishmen, 
on tlie 12th October, 1791. On the 12th October, 
1798, the seventh anniversary of the foundation of 
practical patriotism in Ireland, he was captured on 
board the Iloche, 74 guns, the admiral's ship of & 
portion of the third expedition he had projected in 
France and Hamburg, foi- tlie aid of Ireland. Between- 
those dates a wonderfully inspiring history was enact- 
ed in Ireland. United Irishism spread into all ranks, 
inflaming alilce Catholic peasants and Protestant peers 
with a divine fervor, and bringing round the common 
altar of their country noble clergjanen of every de- 
nomination. The Eev. "William Jackson, a Protestant 
clergyman, undertook to sound the Irish in 1795, on 
the subject of an alliance with France, was betrayed- 
by an English attorney, and died in the dock. Messrs. 
Warwick, Stevelly, and William Porter, Presbyterian 
clergymen, were hanged. Eev. AYilliam Steele Dick- 
son, of the same denomination, who had been the early 
asserter of Ireland's independence and advocate of his 
Catholic fellow-countrymen, was, for nearly two years, 
Adjutant-General of the United Irish of Ulster. " Bet- 
2 



2(3 



FEXUN IIEKOKS AND iLUrrVRS. 



tor die coiu-ageonsly in tlie field than be butcliered in 
the houses," said Father John Mnrphy, putting him- 
self at the head of his flock, after the yeoman had 
burned his chapel over his head, in May '98. The 
royalists did not know the flame they were kindling, 
■when they set fire to the little chapel of Boolavogne. 
"We must conquer or perish" cried this priest-leader 
to his pikemen, at Oulart Hill, and they conquered. 
This reverend General Murphy was heard from at the 
battle of Enniscorthy, at Vinegar Hill, and other 
tough confiicts: as also were Father Philip Koche, 
■who commanded at the bloody fight at Tubberneering, 
where Col. Walpole feU, and was subsequently elected 
generalissimo of the "Wexford troops ; and the soldier- 
priests, Moses Kearns and Nicholas Kedmond, who 
di'ove Col. L'Estrange and his dragoons into Newtown- 
barry, and even had the audacity to engage and rout 
the garrison of over five hundi'ed troops. Kearns sub- 
sequently made a desperate defence of Enniscorthy 
against General Johnston, and carried a serious wound 
from the fight, which led to his capture. Father 
Clinch, with those named, was one of the leaders of 
the patriots on the great but disastrous day of Vine- 
gar Hill. ■ Another prominent and brave priest-leader 
was Father Michael Murphy. Tlie history of the pa- 
triot priests of 'OS affords a thrilling chapter, which 
should be separately set forth for tlie sal^s of the noble 



HISTOKICAL INTEODUCTION. 



27 



example furnished by their devotion and sacrifices. 
Aroused by inhuman barbarity and oppression, they 
made common cause with their persecuted flocks. 
They showed them how to fight on the field; and 
how to die, if need be, on the scaffold, as did Eoche, 
John Murphy, Kearns, Eedmond, Preudergast, Quig- 
ley, and others. Father Michael Murphy was vouch- 
safed the nobler death on the field, being torn to pieces 
by a cannon-ball while leading on a division of pike- 
men at the battle of Arklow. 

The war for national independence, projected by 
the United Irishmen, was forced into a premature 
explosion by the. government. On the 30th March, 
1798, Lord Camden, the viceroy, proclaimed all Ire- 
land under ilartial Law. The proclamation was a 
brutal incentive to riot. Armed with it' the military 
and " authorities" went about the country exasper- 
ating suspected localities, creating feuds for tlie sake 
of punishing individuals, and involving individuals 
that whole districts might be plundered. What was 
true of one locality was but too true of all. " The in- 
human tortures instituted by the yeomen, the barbari- 
ties inflicted %vithout regard to age or sex, the scourg- 
ings, pitch-caps, house-burnings, and murders, then 
drew a distinct and bloody line between those who 
acted for, and under the protection of, the government 
<md the people. No man was safe, no woman invio- 



28 



FENLV2* HEEOES Alrt) MAKTTKS. 



lable, private piqiie found vent in public vengeance ; 
and tlie magistracy falling into the liands of Orange 
factionists, was at once -ttitness, judge, jury and execu- 
tioner."* 

While the people on the one hand were goaded into 
unbearable agony, the leaders of the people on the 
other hand were seized, hanged, banished, put out of 
the Avay with indiscriminate fury. The betrayal of 
the plans and several prominent leaders by the infa- 
mous Thomas Reynolds, the Arnold of Ireland, on the 
eve of the rising, with the distraction which followed 
Avas an irreparable blow to the project. Judged by 
the light which documentary history has thrown on 
the period, the chances of success of the United Irish- 
men loom into very great proportions, while the des- 
tinies of England seem to have been held by a very 
slender thread. Madden is right when he says of the 
United Irish Society, that " whether viewed in its re- 
sults, the character of its members, or the nature of its 
proceedings, it may certainly be regarded as a confed- 
eracy which no political or revolutionary society that 
has gone before it has surpassed in importance, bold- 
ness of design, and devotion to its principles." On 
the other hand, England's incontrovertible danger may 
be judged from the fact that had cither one of Tone's 



* " 'Ninety-Eight and 'Forty-Ei jlit, Irisli 'RovotuUonai'y History ai;a Litera- 
ture." Tliird Edition, New York, 1S57. p. 70. 



HISTOEICAl INTEODUCTION. 



29 



expeditions been favored with a fair wind to carry it 
to its destination, England could not have held Ireland, 
and half of her prestige would have been gone. It is 
not disputed that England was saved by the elements 
that scattered Tone's expeditions. The active civil 
war lasted less than five months, that is from the ris- 
ing of the people, 20th May, to the capture of Tone, 
but its extent, and the vigor with which it was sus- 
tained may be comprehended from its cost-to the peo- 
ple and the government. The English employed 
137,000 men to suppress the " insurrection." Its cost 
in money is variously estimated at thirty millions and 
fifty millions pounds sterling. The English lost twen- 
ty thousand men ; the Irish fifty thousand. The royal- 
ists received one and a half millions sterling for dam- 
ages to property. ]^o estimate can be made of the 
damage perpetrated on the property of the people. 
It may be indicated by the fact that the Catholic 
churches burned, of which any account was kept, 
amounted to sixty-nine. This, as Madden says, " may 
aiford some criterion by which we can judge of the 
number and extent" of other outrages on property be- 
longing to persons of that communion. 

The " Union" followed the " rebellion," and in the 
reckless corruption and infamy by which it was carried 
was a fitting sequel to the murderous barbarity by 
wliich the latter was precipitated and concluded. 



30 



FE^'rA2{ HEROES AND MAETYES. 



TAventy-one years before tlie Union -was effected, 
Samuel Jolmsou well characterized tlie animus -which 
^vould and did govern England in seeking it. " Art- 
ful politicians," as Boswell characterizes them, had 
often in view a Union between Ireland and England, 
and in 1T79, Johnson, expressing himself on the sub- 
ject to a gentleman from Ireland, said: "Do not make 
a Union with us, sir. "We should unite with you 
only to rob you."* As Johnson indicated th^ spirit 
of rapine which would follow a Union, so Byron, 
twelve years after its accomplishment, stigmatized and 
illustrated the rapacious dishonesty of the measure. 
" Adieu," said he, " to that Union so-called, as luous a 
non lucendo, a Union from never uniting, which, in its 
first operation, gave a death-blow to the independence 
of Ireland, and in its last may be the cause of her 
eternal separation from this country. If it must be 
called a Union, it is the union of the shark with its 
pi'ey; the spoiler swallows up his victim, and thus 
tliey become one and indivisible. Thus has Great 
Britain swallowed up the parliament, the constitution, 
the independence of Ireland, and refuses to disgorge 
even a single privilege, although for the relief of her 
swoUen and distempered body politic."f 



* BosweH's Johnson, by J. Wilson Crokcr. Enlarged by J. Wright. Bohn's 
edition, 1S9. Vol. ^^I, p. 295. ^ 

t Speech by Lord Byron, House of Lords, April 2l8t, 1S12, on Lord Donough- 
moro's motion for a Committee on Catholic Claims. 



HISTOKICAL IKTKODUCTIOIT. 



31 



The manner in which the Catholic peasantry were 
butchered in '98 to put down the rebeUion, and the 
style in which the Protestant "gentry" were bought 
and sold in 1800, to effect the Union, were equally dis- 
graceful, and proclaimed as loud as desperate deeds 
could proclaim that Ireland was not the patient slave 
of England, and that there was not, and could not ex- 
ist a mutually beneficial or respected union between 
them. After quartering her native and Hessian mer- 
cenaries on the devoted people of Ireland, England 
quartered with much parade the arms of Ireland on 
the British Flag— this too while the wanton agonies, 
inflicted by the former, were fermenting into venge- 
ance, which took form in a few years afterwards in 
what 'is kno^vn as Emmet's Rebellion, and which was, 
although nobly inspired and well conceived, but a 
faint echo of the great fight in '98. 

In Paris, where Ptobert Emmet spent the early 
autumn of 1802, deep in military studies, he met his 
brother Thomas Addis, and the exiles of '98, includ- 
ing some of the students who had been expelled with 
him from the University of Dublin, for national rea- 
sons. Irish affairs naturally engi-ossed their attention, 
especially as the relations between France and England 
were not of the most amicable nature. He had inter- 
views ^vith Buonaparte and Tallepand, from wliich he 
hi'pefully speculated, inasmuch as the patched-up peace 



34 



^'=^'^-^-'" "J^-KOIIK AXD MARTYE3. 



In h:3 wntten comrnnnicaf I.n with Buonaparte, AdcUs 
Emmet also, in unrni.takaUc language, scouted the 
Idea that the Irl-h would accept aid on any such 
terms. It never was tho idea of any of the Irish 
iyvolut:omsts. Impressed hy the anxious representa- 
tions from Ireland the majority of the exiles concur- 
red m a co-operative movement Avhen France would 
be ready to strike England on her o^vn account; and 
from his connections, enthunlasm, and ability, Eobert 
Emmet became the leading agent in the movement 

Wilham Lawless accom,.a„ied Emmet to Ireland; 
Thomas Russell, regarding whom Tone said, "I think 
the better of myself for being ,],e object of esteem of 
such a man," and who had but just quitted his prison 
at Fmt George, went to Lvland to lead the men of 
the JSiorth, over v.liieh d !*,.;,<- i 
_ ,. ' "'-'^ 'li-t)ict he was api5ointed 

General-m-Ch,ef r„tnam M'Oabe's presence in the 
country was made memoral,le by his felicitous escape 
frorir the soldiery at Belfast. Michael Dwyer was at ' 
the head of abrave band of mountaineers in Wicklow 
iMcholas Gray, Bagnal Harvey's aide-de-camp in Wex- 
ford m '9S, was in the moven.ent. The indefatigable 
James Hope, the weaver of T,.mple Patrick, who had 
been the secret agent of the leaders of '98, and who, 
.v.th M Craeken,led the insurgents at the gallant fighj 
at Antrim, was still unceasing in his allegiance to.the 
national cause. ^ 



niSTOKICAL INTRODUCTION. 



35 



So for as I can discover, all the funds at Emmet's 
disposal amounted to about scveutcon thousand dollars 
— ten of which comprised all his own fortune; the 
other seven thousand being contributed by Philip 
Long, a patriotic and wealthy tradesman of Dublin, 
who entered fully into the conspiracy. 

The principles held by Emmet were those of "Wolfe 
Tone. Like Tone, too, young Emmet's energy was 
inexhaustibly great. iSTo man who reflects on his ca- 
reer will fail to be struck with the irrepressible vigor 
-\\ith which he carried on his preparations; now plan- 
ning, now superintending his various depots, and the 
manufacture of arms. In one of these places he 
slept on a mattress on the floor, that he might be 
always present to oversee ^vliat was going forward, to 
animate his workmen, and to meet any emergency 
that might arise to demand the governing power of 
his presence, or the inspiration of his example. 

The accidental blowing up of a powder depot, on 
the 16th July, 1S03, drew attention to the conspiracy, 
and precipitated events to a fruitless end. In fact, 
with that explosion, United Irishism was blo\vri into 
fragments fir more than two generations. The dogs of 
the street licked the blood of Emmet from the pave 
mcnt under liis scaffold, his body was hidden in an un- 
iuseribcd grave, and upon the ruins of those .efi"orts for 
a distinct idea of nationality, arose, and in greater 



36 



FENIAN HEROES AND M.UJTriig. 



proportions, the fabric of a sectional agitation. Tins 
figitation was needed; bnt it was not all that was 
needed. The United Irishmen had started the acrita- 
tion of Catholic rights on broad national grounds. 
In taking up the theme, O'Connell circumscribed 
both. The United Irishmen labored to create a spirit 
of toleration between all denominations. O'Connell 
did not think this essential; was the belligerent and 
powerful advocate of one and the ready and defiant 
antagonist of all others. Gifted with great abihty and 
vast and subtle knowledge of the people, both com- 
bmed to make him the leader by reflecting the 
humor, appealing to the misery, defying the enemies, 
and, by giving expression to tlie passions of his conn- 
trjmien, which had acquired rancor and vindictiveness 
from having been so long choked in silence. 

That the agitation for Catholic Emancipation was 
needed, all admit; that it was not all that was need- 
ed no rational being will deny. Subsequent agitation 
for the Eepeal of the Union proved that more was 
wanting than such emancipation as was vouchsafed 
to the Irish Catholics. In advocating Repeal, Davis 
succintly epitomizes what was achieved by the one 
and Avhat is embraced in the other : 

stn7r',"r'^? '° ''''~'°' ''"'^-^''" ^^•'^"-"^^ I"^'> Catholics 
to thf n 7 ^"";"'P-^"°"- ^^-^ nmancipatioa ,vas ad./ission 
to the Bench, fhe Inner Bar, and Parliament It was won by self- 



niSTOKICAL INTKODUCXION. 



37 



denial, genius, vast and sustained labors, and lastly by the sacrifice 
of the' forly-sbiUing freeholders— the poor veterans of the war— . 
and by submission to insulting oaths ; yet it was cheaply bought 
Kot so cheaply, perchance, as if won by the sword; for, on it 
were expended more treasures, more griefs, more intellect, more 
passion, more of all which makes life welcome, than had been 
needed for war ; still it was cheaply bought, and Ireland has 
glorified herself, and will through ages triumph in the victory 

of '29. 

" Yet what was Emancipation compared to Repeal? 
"The one put a silken badge on a few members of one pro- 
fession ; the other would give to all professions and aU trades the 
rank and riches which resident proprietors, domestic legislation, 
and flourishing commerce, mfallibly create. 

" Emancipation made it possible for Catholics to sit on the 
judgment seat; but it left a foreign administration, which has 
cxduded them, save in two or three cases, where over-topping 
eminence made the acceptance of a Judgeship no promotion ; and 
it left the local judges— those with whom the people has to deal- 
as partial, ignorant, and bigoted as ever; while Repeal would 
give us an Irish code and Irish-hearted Judges in eveiy Court, 
from the Chancery to the Petty Sessions. 

"Emancipation dignified a dozen Catholics with a senatorial 
name in a foreign and hostile Legislatm-e. Repeal would give us 
a Senate, a IMililia, an Administration, all our own. 

•' The Penal Code, as it existed since 1793, insulted the faith of 
the Catholics, restrained their liberties, and \-iolated the public 
TiTuly of Limerick. The Union has destroyed our manufactures, 
prohibits our flag, prevents our commerce, drams our rental, 
tn;shes-our genius, makes our taxation a tribute, our representa- 
tion a shadow, our name a bye-word. It were nobler to strive for 
Rviieal than to get Emancipation." 

It i:^ without the scope of these pages to follow the 
vy.ii.lrous career of O'Connell through the Catholic 
aiid Repeal agitations; but it cannot be without sug- 



38 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAIiTYIlS. 



gestiveness to tliose who follow the changes in popu- 
lar opinion to observe the persistent and positive re- 
currence of the Irish to those ideas which were in 
the ascendant before O'Couuell became prominent. 
O'Connell's career was in a great degree a repetition 
of Grattan's. Both brought peculiarly powerful in- 
spirations into politics, and the powers they respec- 
tively encouraged, if not evoked, went far ahead of 
the design contemplated by either. The spiri^ in- 
stalled and animated by Grattan and the volunteers 
was a potent element in the forination of United 
Irishism, and its struggle in '98; and the talent 
which rallied round the latter years of O'Connell's 
great Repeal agitation, was the direct agency that led 
to the attempted revolution in '48. Grattan had said 
" Liberty with England, if possible, — if not, without 
her. Perish the British Einpire — live Ireland." And 
O'Conncll had used as a standing text, until the 
words became household, indicating a future : 

" Ilereditary bondsmen, know ye not 
Wlio would be free, themselves must strike the blow. " 

Grattan, however, also said, " May the kingly 
power that forms one estate in our constitution, con- 
tinue for ever ;" and O'Connell, while claiming "Ire- 
land for the Irish," also said " God Save the Queen." 

The progi'essive patriots thought these latter ex- 
clamations were u.~ed for the sake of policy, and 



HISTORICAL mTRODUCTION. 



39 



believed the leaders meant more than they actually' 
did. So when they deemed the pei-iod for policy had 
passed, and the era for honesty anived, the progress- 
ive volunteers became United Irishmen, to carry out 
Grattan's idea — "Perish the British Empire — live 
Ireland ;" and the Young Ireland Eepealers became 
Irish Confederates to carry out O'Connell's declara- 
tion of " Ireland for the Irish." Grattan lived to 
see his country reduced to that condition in which 
O'Connell's maturity found her, and, dying in Lon- 
don, his ashes enhance the memories of the pantheon 
of Ireland's oppressors — he was buried in "Westmin- 
ster Abbey. O'Connell, seeking for health far away 
from tliose scenes it had ever blest — far from his be- 
loved Kerry Mountains, died in Genoa, bequeathing 
his heart to Eome, and the case that had held it to 
Ireland. 

The Young Ireland party differed fi-om O'Connell 
because he would not allow it the right to differ. 
The inspiring centre, if not the founder of this party, 
was Thomas Davis, who died before O'Connell, but 
lived long enough to feel that a difference if not a 
conflict of opinions, between his associates and the 
old chief was inevitable. Davis was a concentration 
of nationality and of everytliing that tended to nur- 
ture or spread it, whether in the paths of letters, art, 
manufacture, or politics. Everything Irish had a si<'- 



40 



FEN1.UI IIEU0E3 AND iCAR'n-RS 



niiieance to liim of service to Ireland. As Smith 
O'Brien said, " Love of country was tlie passion of 
Ills life— the motive for every action— the foundation 
of every feeling." "With characteristic force, as in- 
dicating his creative power of patriotism, Doheny 
said, Davis "Struck living fire from inert way-side 
stones. To him the meanest rill, the rugged moun- 
tains, the barren waste, the rudest fragment of bar- 
baric history, spoke the language of elevation, har- 
mony and hope." Meagher's first speech was a%weet 
tribute in honor of the dead, and upon the fresh 
grave of his friend, John Mitchel laid as a dedica- 
tory oflermg the first fruits of his labors in f rish 
literature— the life of Aodh O'Neill. 

After remonstrating in vain with the O'Connellites, ' 
the Yountr Ireland party received great accessions of 
strength, and on the 13th January, 1847, formed the 
" L-ish Confederation." This organization was a bril- 
liant representative of Irish honor and intellectual 
attainment. The genius and enthusiasm of the coun- 
try rallied round it. The great journal, TU Nation, 
which had fostered all the national resources, in what- 
ever form they presented themselves, had a legitimate 
ofl'spring at matiirity in the Confederation. The 
Nation had attracted /.he applause of Europe and 
America as the spirit of progressive Ireland : the 
Confederation disclosed the active body behind it. 



HISTORICAL INTEODUCTION. 41 

In intellectual endowments the "Young Ireland" 
party ^\■ill compare favorably with the men of '98, 
with one exception. That exception is Tone. As 
a political \vi'iter he was alone in his day. He has 
not been equalled since. He was not only a patriot 
but a statesman and diplomat ; a combination rarely 
to be found. He was not only almost inexhaustibly 
suggestive, but he was also practical. He differed 
from most men who have one grand idea, in the 
fact that he never put the attainment of his object 
in jeopardy by publicly ignoring the sense of those 
who had other ideas or differed from his. While 
he was firm he was also considerate. To this faculty 
may be attributed the power he had with men. His 
pamphlets are characterized by fervor and argument, 
never by abuse. Thomas Davis, however, had one 
great advantage over Tone in seizing the popular 
heart, and throbbing it with healthy and indignant 
pulsations, he was a poet. His prose essays are 
abundantly illustrative of noble aspirations and ready 
gifts, but his poems are passionately national, and 
contain that fire which cannot be extinguished. 

If the members of the Irish Confederation, taken 
as a party, were not only equal to, but beyond the 
United Irishmen, as poets, orators, and publicists, 
they were far behind them as revolutionists. It may 
be that from the formation of the Confederation, 



^^^iXVii^iiAijC:'^;^^;:^'^,^,^,"^ 



42 



FENIAU HEROES AND MAETTES. 



lime Avas not pemiitted to develoi^ tlie revolutionary 
ability of tlie body until it -^vas extinct ; and it is 
true that foreign example, especially the French 
Ecvolution, and the -wiitings of John Mitchel, forced 
the leaders, and, thi-ough them, the people into a posi- 
tion not contemplated as so closely imminent. The 
Confederation was not a secret or oath-bound organi- 
zation as the United Irish Society was. It might 
have become so had it lived longer. The United Irish 
Society was twice as long in existence before it took 
refuge in secrecy fi-om the persecution of the govern- 
ment, and reorganized on a military basis.*" Origi- 
nally started to effect Catholic Emancipation and 
rm-liamentary Eeform, it was persecuted into the 
wider field of Eepublicanism. The Confederation 
was designed to educate and organize the people— to 
aclueve Kepeal by moral force, if possible; by physi- 
cal force, if necessary. 

The famine years had been regarded by English 
ministers as powerful allies for the reduction of the 
Irish. Measures of relief were suggested in and out 
of Parliament, resolutions carried, committees ap- 
pointed, discussions held as to what caused the fam- 
ine ? how far the potato blight had gone ? how could 
it be stayed? Science grew blind experimenting; 
and the groans of the dying, which maddened 
the Irish only made the ministers deaf. Althougli 



HISTOEICAL INTEODUCTION. 43 

there was not a county in Ireland which had escaped 
the potato-rot, and the consequent scarcity of food 
and funds, yet the landlords were as um-elenting as 
ever in driving and grinding the impoverished pea- 
santry. Meanwhile, the island was rifled of its grain 
and cattle to meet the exigencies of the abstotees 
and the English interest in Ireland; and the Govern- 
ment, to make a show of charity and protection to 
the world, bought up some foreign corn for the "poor 
Irish." It might have bought the food in the. coun- 
try, and distributed it; but that would have been the 
means of circulating money and staving off famine; 
and neither of these appliances were calculated to sus- 
tain an English interest in Ireland. Nol every ves- 
sel seeking the doomed island with foreign corn "was 
siu-e to meet half a dozen sailing out with Irish wheat 
and cattle." There was no end to the meetings of 
learned bodies, and the reports they made. Every 
thing was done but the one thing necessary-feed the - 
people. 

Where famine and fever did not put the peasantry 
beyond the .power of injuring the English interest 
"agrarian outrages," as the desii-e for food was called' 
brought them within the clutches of the law. The' 
process was complete, and none will say it was not 
powerful. First, the people were systematically 
starved ; and for those who escaped death, the minis- 



u 



FENIAK HEKOES AND MAHTTES. 



ters supplied a trap in tlie shape of the Coercion 
(Agrarian Outrages) Bill, to restrain the daring 
which gave them a desire to live. "Old Ireland" 
had gone with the Whigs, and the Whigs had gone 
against L-eland, as usual, not^^dthstanding the pro- 
mises' of beneficial measures, by which Lord John 
Eussell had duped the Old Eepeal Association. 
"Agrarian outrage" was the plea made to excuse 
Whig concessions on the one hand ; and on the other, 
to declare in Parliament that it were better to " out- 
rage the Constitution," than aUow the present state 
of aifairs to contiuue in Ireland. 

In the face of these actions, the L-ish Confederation 
had work enough on hand, were it equal to the occa- 
sion. But it was not. Although it had, on the state- 
ment of its secretary, upwards of one hundred and 
fifty thousand enrolled men in the clubs,* yet the 
Confederate organization was far from perfect, and ■ 
the amount of arms possessed by it insignificant. 
Inspired, as it was, by a noble sense of nationality, 
still the distinct purposes of the Confederacy were not 
widely defined or imderstood. The opinion of the 
body of its members was in a transition state, between 
the old principles they had left, and the new ones 
which were not fully adopted. This led to difi'erences 

» Thi» statement of members I find in a rampWct cDtitlcd,"A Disdosnre con- 
nected with the L;ito State Prosecutions in Ireland, &c., hy Thomas Matthew 
nalpin, Secretary of the Iriah Confederation, Dublin, 1S19. 



HISTOEICAL INTEODUCTIOX. 



45 



among some of the leaders, and suggested the necessi- 
ty of a definite programme of guidance in the Con- 
federation. Mitchel, not seeing anything in the fam- 
ine policy of the Government but " a machinery 
deliberately devised and skilfully worked for the en- 
tire subjugation of the island,— the slaughter of a 
portion of its people, and the pauperization of the 
rest," believed that resistance should be opposed to the 
system at every point: that the transport and ship- 
ment of provisions should be obstructed and rendered 
impossible : and that the people should be advised 7wi 
to give up their arms, under the law made to disann 
them, but to provide more, especially pikes, of which 
the soldiery were in great horror. O'Brien, Duffy, 
and the Nation, party, remonstrated against this 
course, as it would be a virtual declaration of war. 
On the two days debate which followed in the Confed- 
eration, Meagher gave the weight of his popularity, 
and turned the scale against Mitchel's views; and 
Mitchel having already retired from the Nation set 
up the United Irishman, to promulgate the docti-ines 
he thought best suited to the crisis. Throughout 
these movements Devin Eeilly was the able lieuten- 
ant of Mitchel. 

Tlie Frencli Eevolntion of February, 1S48, created 
great excitement in L-eland, giving a new impetus 
to the Confederation, and apparently ratifying the 



46 



FENIAIf HEROES AND MARTYKS. 



republican indications of Mitchel. Tlie Confederate 
orators now rivalled tlie revolutionary vigor of the 
United Irishfiian. In the first week in February the 
assembled Confederates voted down Mitchel's war 
programme : a month afterwards, Meagher, the voice 
of the Confederation, declared that if the Govern- 
ment did not accede to the demand for the recon- 
struction of Irish Nationality, he was ready to cry 
" up with the barricades, and invoke the god of bat- 
tles." The Confederation also sent an address to 
France, which declared that her heroism "taught en- 
slaved nations that emancipation ever awaits those who 
dared to achieve it by their own intrepidity." These 
significant expressions were seized with avidity by 
the people, as indicating a desire to fight. If the 
AVhig Ministers aifected to treat the Irish move- 
ment with contempt, the Tory leaders forced them 
out of that position. The Earl of Derby, in the 
House of Lords, called the Government to task, and 
said of the Irish leaders, " These men are honest ; 
they are not the kind of men who make their patriot- 
ism the means of barter for place or pension." The 
"Whigs, disgiisted at the Tories calling the Confed- 
erates honest and high-toned, determined to render 
their caiise as degrading as English law could make 
it. The Treason-Felony Act was therefore passed. 
"What was heretofore known as treason to the Crown, 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 47 

Which in Ireland was regarded as patriotism, was by 
this Act made a felon/and the patriots " felons " 

The arrest of John Mitchel quickly followed, and 
the national excitability seemed to culminate in the 
Idea that now was the time for a general uprising. 
The Council of the Confederation, after the most 
strenuous exertions, prevented an outbreak, and ex- 
cused its action in an Address to the People. The 
Council feared that an attempt to rescue Mitchel * 
and to free Ireland, would prove abortive. «We' 
therefore," said the Address, " intei-posed, and with 
.?! Krr'^'*^ ^^ preventing the fruitless effusion 
of blood." Mitchel was permitted to be banished; and 
the Government, seeing the Confederates waver at the 
very, crisis of the excitement, pushed matters with its 
usual recklessness and vigor. The Irish Tribune 
sprang into the gap made by the demolition of the 
UmtedlHsKman, and, two weeks after, the Irish 
Felon was by the side of the former laboring for the 
same ends. "The harvest," was now the cry of the 
patriots. " Wait for the harvest, and we will, in God's 
"ame strike a blow." The Government, however 
would not wait so long. All its power was put forth 
to force a rising, that it might crush it. The Trihuns 
Idon, and mtion were seized, and the editors and' 
proprietors thrown into prison. The Ga<.c.in. Act 
prevented the leaders from addressing the cfubs in 



48 



FENIAN irEROES AND ILARTTHS. 



tlie cities ; and the stispensioii of the Habeas Corjyus 
Act compelled those who had reudei-ed themselves 
objects of suspicion, to evade the authorities. Thus 
these men ■were thi'own on the country, when they 
had helped to chill its spirit, or make it irresolute by 
hope deferi'ed. The leaders had to " take to the hills." 
Kewards were offered for the more prominent, and. 
the natural gallantry and truth of the Irish peasant, 
created a sympathy where even a knowledge of ^Q 
political situation had been but imperfectly under- 
stood. Hunted with celerity they strove to face the 
emergency in hurried councils, and with undisciplined 
material, and having come in contact with the British 
forces at the Slate Quarries, Mullinahone, Killenaule, 
Ballingariy, Abbeyfeale, and other places, they were 
cither captured or found safety in escape and exile. 
Of the chief men, O'Brien and Meagher were captur- 
ed, tried, foimd guilty, and sentenced to death, which 
was subsequently commuted to banishment for life; 
and Doheny, Dillon, Devin Reilly, O'Gorman and 
others, after various adventures, escaped, and found 
their way to America. Later in the year, in Septem- 
ber, a" more persistent effort was made by Messrs. 
O'Mahony and Savage to rally the people in Tipper- 
ary, "Waterfurd and Kilkenny, and to retrieve some- 
what the disastei-s that had preceded. After demon- 
strations on the mountains of these localities, and 



msTOKICAL rNTEODUCnoN. 



49 



conflicts at Portlaw barracks, Glenbower, Scaugh, 
and other places, the movement was given up as hope- 
less. 

Looking back calmly at the events of '48, and com- 
prehending details which only time can present in 
their true light, there can be no rational doubt of the 
fact that the people were not prepared to attempt or 
effect a revolution by arms that year. There was no 
organization ; the Confederation was not sufficiently 
long in existence to have put the country on a fight- 
ing basis ; and without organization nothing could be 
effected. The French Eevolution came too soon for 
the good of Ireland. There were moments when a 
shot would have set the revolution going with an 
esjyrit and a fervor, the result of which cannot be 
imagined. 

The 10th July was such an occasion, when the 
populace of Waterford and Cashel raised barricades 
to prevent the arrest of Meagher and Doheny. It ' 
needed Meagher's most impassioned exertions to fi-ee 
himself from his friends, that he might be arrested by 
his enemies. Doheny was taken out of jail by the 
Cashel men, recaptured himself, and only was per- 
mitted to do so by pledging his word that he was ar- 
rested on a bailable offence. Both, unknown to each 
other, feared to precipitate a revolt, because the lead- 
ers had no settled plan of action. The chief occasion 



50 



FENIAN UER0E3 AND MAJITYE8. 



of tlic year, however, was the trial of Mitchel. The 
leaders were all at liberty, and the enthuBiasm of the 
people intense and manageable. The Governnicnt 
had shown its vindictive intentions, which created as 
daring a desire of defiance, and the halo encircling the 
first martjT. inspii'ed the masses of the Dublin clubs 
with a frenzy which declined after the disappoint- 
nicnta of that day. 



PISTOllICAL INTRODUCTIOIf. 



51 



r 



CHAPTER II. 

Did Tonng Ireland achieve a Victory— The rcleaBCd PrlBoncrs and the Exiles 
at work— Continuous efforts to keep np a National Organization— The Fenbn 
Brotherhood— Iti> Beglnnin;; and Exteneion— Firet CongreBs at Chicago— De- 
clarations of PiirpopCB— Not a Secret Society— The Poles and the Pope — 
O'Mahony elected nead Centre under the New Conflitution— Second Con- 
grcsfi at Cincinnati — Growth of the Brotherhood— Report of the Envoy to 
'" Ireland— Council enlarged — State of Affaira In Ireland — The I. R. B. — JamcB 
StephenBandhls Connection with the Organization— ExtcnBlvc Dieoffectlono 
— Seizure of the Irisk People and Itf* Editors — ArreHts all over the Country — 
lliird Fenian Congrees In Philadelphia— Mr. Mechan's Reportr-Connlltutlon 
of tbcP. B. changed— niffercnccs hctween the " Prepident" and the ** Senate" 
rcFult In an *'IriBh Party" and a " Canadian Party" — Fourth CongrepB rcBtores 
the Old ConBtitutlon, endorsed hy Military Convention— Excitement in Ire- 
land increases— Arrest and EBcapo of Stephens- Lord Wodehouse on the 
Conspiracy— The Country not safe unless the l^nbrat Cnrpu* Is suBpcnded — 
Dehate on that MeaBure— John Bright, Stuart Mill— The Irish Memhers-JohQ 
B. Dillon— The O'Donoghuc— Passage of tho BllL 

By the events of '48 ".Young Ireland " was dis- 
handed but not defeated. The new soul which came 
into Ireland and was manifested in the songs, essays, 
speeches and publications generally of the members 
of that party, could not be extinguished. If they did 
not organize, they did wonderfully help to educate the 
people with a healthy, rnanly and hopeful literature. 
Their efforts in tliis regard have produced legitimate 
results ; and in the spread of their ideas, hopes, affec- 
tions and romantic feelings touching the uses of eVery 



52 



FENIAN HEROES AlfD MAETTE8. 



phase of Irish life to tlie end of Irish freedom, pre- 
pared the people to appreciate organization, which, 
l^owerful at all times, is all the grander and more 
reliable when founded on and sustained by intelli- 
gence. 

Philosophically judged, Young Ireland achieved a 
notable and fruitful victory. On the one hand it com- 
pelled England to show the ruffian hand by which 
the " sister island " was governed. This was not lost 
on the world; the French Government adroitly 'al- 
luded to it iu 1S60, when Persigny was " enlarging 
the liberty" of the French Press. On the other hand 
it bestowed a new literature on. the country, which 
commanded even the admiration of its enemies, and 
is the touchstone of all literary endeavor in Ireland 
since. Irishmen who could not embrace the politics of 
Young Ireland, welcomed the literature which seemed 
to combine the best characteristics of all that had 
gone before, with an informing spirit emanating from 
pure hearts and able heads. 

Even in the disruption of the party, its scattered 
elements were destined to do wondrous service in tes- 
timony of the national faith and character of Irish- 
men, and of continued tribulation to the Government 
of Ireland. Tliose who were kept in jail under the 
suspension of the Haheas Cor;pus act, like Fenton La- 
lor and Joseph Brenan, were no sooner released than 



HISTOEICAL INTEODUCTIOK. 



53 



they were planning and projecting, with other untiring 
spirits, a renewal of armed hostihlies in 1849.* 

The exiles who were in France took advantage of" 
the disrupted state of that country, to study successful 
means of revolution, and to interest many able French- 
men in the Irish cause— no very difficult matter to be 
sure, as in addition to the sympathy between the Irish 
and French, descending from old military alliances, any- 
thing against England is attractive to a true French- 
man. The exiles in America, in the press, the lecture- 
liall, the driU-room, possessed welcome vehicles for the' 
expression and expansion of the doctrines which had 
driven them from home; and even in the penal colo- 
nies, to which England had banished those who had 
fallen into the embrace of partisan judges and packed 
juries, the gallant settlers received as friends those who 
were branded as felons, and intrigued and conspired 
to set them fi-ee. 

It would be impossible, even were all the materials 
at hand, to present at this date anything like a fair 
record of the unceasing, though sometimes contracted 
efforts made in Ireland and America to keep alive one 
organization after the other for the encouragement 
and indoctrination of Irish national principles. The 
history of these efforts, when wi-itten, wiU prove of 
deep interest, and give evidence of the undying devo- 

♦ See the facts given in 3Ir. Luby's eketch of Pliilip Gray, in tM8 volume. 



54: 



FEXIAN HEKOES AKD MAETYES. 



tion of all classes of Irishmen to the freedom of their 
native laud. 

Distracted, now by differences of able men, now by 
the jealousies of weak ones ; at other times by the 
well-meant officiousuess of ignorance ; again by the 
want of means, and the bickering results of such a 
condition ; sometimes felling into apathy by the drop- 
ping out of some earnest spirit, whose sensitiveness 
would pall before an accurhulation of the visitatiops 
described, it is remarkable that some one was always 
found to cheer, to encourage, and give life and vigor 
to a nucleus of nationalists^ The connection was thus 
kept up, sometimes by a happily-welded link, at others 
by a very fragile rope indeed. I have chiefly refeiTcd 
to the projective societies in I^ew York, with which 
the congenial societies in L-eland were in commu- 
nication. 

One great source of dissatisfaction arose from the 
very hopefulness which kept the cause alive in Ire- 
land, and which led men there to exaggerate the 
means at their disposal. The mistaken idea, also 
prevailing in Ireland, of the position of the exiles in 
America, who, it was thought, could control any 
amount of money and war material, caused the de- 
mands made on them to be of an equally-extensive 
character. It is needless to say, these demands could 
not be complied with. Tlie existence of those societies 



mSTOBICAI, mTKODUCTIOlT. 



65 



■was always precarious, sometimes exciting, but all 
were guided by worthy aspirations. 

The Fenian organization was the result of the socie- 
ties which had preceded it. The most imposing of 
them had fallen away, and the nucleus from which 
sprung this formidable power was composed of Michael 
Doheny, Michael Corcoran, John O'Mahony, and one 
or two others. From small numerical dimensions it 
slowly but steadily expanded to the form in which it 
has arrested the attention of the world. 

"When O'Mahony was elected president of the society* 
and at the same time received his commission as Head 
Centre from elsewhere, toward the end of 1858, it 
numbered forty members, all of whom resided in the 
city of ISTew York. It had a great struggle for exist- ^ 
ence, but ultimately succeeded beyond the most san- 
guine hopes of its projectors. In five years it put 
forth its branches from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Stretching northward, it had crossed the St. Lawi-ence 
and the great lakes, spreading widely over the British 
provinces. Toward the south it had reached the mouth 
of the Mississippi, before the great rebellion cut off 
communication with ' the southern circles. Up to 
1863, the Fenian Brotherhood was little understood 
outside of the circles composing it. Its representatives 
had never been summoned together to adopt such a 
constitution and rules for general government, as an 



56 



FESTAL HEKOES AXD MAETTK9. 



.association of its extent might liave warranted. It 
liad more tlie nature of a military organization than 
a civil and self-governing body ; and while this suited 
its infancy, many disadvantages became apparent 
when it had growi;. in numbers, intelligence and power. 
These disadvantages suggested to the Head Centre, 
that the organization should be reconstituted on the 
model of the institutions of the Eepublic, governing 
itself on the elective principle. It was then decided 
to call a IN'ational Congress. 

Other matters pertaining to the welfare of the Bro- 
therhood demanded the consideration of its assembled 
wisdom. Thousands of the most ardent and best 
working members had rushed to the defense of the 
Union. Many whole circles had entered the army in 
a body, like the flom-ishing one at Milford, Mass., 
under its gallant centre, Col. Eobert Peard. No less 
than fifty branches had become extinct or dormant, 
and the rest had lost considerably in ardor and effi- 
ciency, through the absence of their choicest spirits in 
the field. In the "West, the Brotherhood had sustained 
an almost irreparable loss in the death of the Eev. 
Edward O'Flaherty, the devoted pastor of Crawfords- 
yille. His death seemed tq paralyze Indiana, which, 
during his life, was the " banner state" of Fenianism ! 
The revolutionary Brotherhood in Ireland demanded 
aid and sympathy ; so the call for the fii-st National 
Congress was issued. 



HISTOKICAL INTEODUCTION. 



57 



Thi:> body assembled at Chicago, in the Fenian 
Hall of tliat city, on the 3d November, 1863. Sixty- 
threo circles were represented, having a constituency 
of fifttxni thousand men, half of whom at least were 
intho (irmies of the Union. "We no longer need 
gcncriiln of our own blood," said Mr. O'Mahony, 
in th(* opening session, " to lead us to battle for 
Ireland, nor veteran soldiers to follow them." The - 
Qongyym met to place the Organization on aj^^ basis 
in accordance with the habits and customs of the 
United States, and to declaire its position and ob- 
jects before the world, so that aU the friends of 
Irish freedom could understand them. It adopted a 
series cf resolutions and formed a Constitution and 
By-Laws, which promulgated the faith of Fenianism. 
The organization was declared to be — 

"An A Psociation having for its object the national freedom of 
Ireland, u,A composed for the most part of citizens of the United 
States hf America, of Irish birth or descent, but open to such 
other dy/'llcra on the American continent as are friendly to the 
liberation of Ireland from the domination of England, by every 
honorall.<-. means within our reach, collectively and individually, 
save an."! f-.xcept such means as may be in violation of the consti- 
tution a.','1 laws under which we live, and to which all of us, who 
are citiz-.?..? of the United States, owe our allegiance." 

An Jirirpicstionable right was claimed under the 
ConstJifition of the United States to aid with money, 
or mor;J or political influence any struggling nation. 
3* 



58 



FENIAN HEEOES AND MAJiTYE8. 



Deeming the pr.eseryation and success of the Union 
of supreme importance to the extension of democratic 
institutions, and to the well being and social elevation 
of the whole human race ; it was 

"Resolved, That we, the Representatives of the Fenian Brother- 
hood m the United States, do hereby solemnly declare, without 
limit or reseiTation, our entire allegiance, to the Constitution and 
Laws of the United States of America." 

All subjects pertaining to partizan American poli- 
tics and religion were ignored. 

The hostile assertions that the Brotherhood was " a 
* Secret Society,' bound together by an oath, and, as* 
such, distinctly condemned by the Catholic Church, 
through certain rescripts thereof leveled against the 
Freemasons, Carbonari, Odd Fellows and other sim- 
ilar associations, social or political;" were repudiat- 
ed and denied by resolution — - 

" Tliat we, the members of this Convention, most distinctly de- 
clare and make known to all whom it may concern, but without 
the slightest disrespect to any of the societies above-named, that 
the Fenian Brotherhood is not a Secret Society, inasmuch as no 
pledge of secresy, expressed or implied, is demanded from the 
candidates for membership thereof; neither is it an oath-bound 
Society, for no oath whatever is required in order to entitle a man 
to all the privileges of the association." 

The following embraces the objects sought, and the 
means by which it may be accomplished : 

" Resolved, That it is the special duty of the members of the 
Fenian Brotherhood to strive with all their might, and with their 



HISTORICAL mTEODUOnOlT. 



59 



whole heart, to create and foster amongst Irishmen everywhere, 
feelings of fraternal harmony and kindly love of each other, unity 
of counsel, and a common policy upon the Irish question, with mu- 
tual forbearance upon all others, so that their efforts may be unani- 
mously directed towards the common objects of their universal 
wishes after a common preconcerted plan. Thus will their force 
become irresistible, guided by one vpUI and one purpose, in one 
undeviating system of action, and thus will they give shape and 
life, dh-ection and movement to that love of IrelaiuJ, and that 
hatred of her oppressors, which are the predominanf passions of 
every true Iiish heart" 

The well-trained Irish-American soldiers were be- 
sought to rally round the Organization, and the men 
in Ireland exhorted to stand by it to the last extremi- 
ty, nor flee from it to foreign countries. The Irish 
people were declared to constitute one of the distinct 
nationalities of the earth. The Irish Kepublic was 
acknowledged as virtually established, with James 
Stephens as its Chief Executive : sympathy with the 
Poles was expressed and a resolution passed express- 
ing— 

"Reverential gratitude and filial respect towards his Holiness 
Pope Pius the Ninth, for lus paternal solicitude in the cause of 
Buffering Poland, up in arms for her liberty, and for the anxious 
care with which he offers up to Heaven his ardent aspirations for 
her success, and recommends her brave sons, battling for ' right 
against might,' to the prayers and support of the Catholic world," 

The direction of the Organization was vested in a 
Head Centre, elected annually by a General Congi-ess, 
State Centres, to direct State Organizations, Centres, 



60 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETYEg. 



to direct Circles, and sub-Centres, for sub-Circles. 
The Head Centre to be assisted by a Central Council 
of five, a Central Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, 
nominated by him and elected by Congress, and Corre- 
sponding and Recording Secretaries. . 

"In order," said Mr. O'JIaliony, "that the Fenian Brother- 
hood be in reality what your legislation has made it this'day — a 
thoroughly democratic, self-governing institution — it stiU remains 
for me to divest myself of the almost absolute authority wliich, 
with your assent, I have held for nearly five years, and by so db- 
ing to place the government and direction of the Fenian Brother- 
hood in the guardianship of this General Convention." . 

The resignation of John O'Mahony was accepted; 
and he was inunediately, on motion of Mr. Gibbons, 
of Pennsylvania, unanimously elected Head Centre, 
under the new Constitution. An address to Ireland 
was issued by this Congress, and messages of frater- 
nity and encouragement received, among others, from 
General T. F. Meagher, General M. Corcoran, and 
Colonel Matthew Murphy, of the Irish Legion. - 

The transactions of this Congress added great vital- 
ity to the Fenian cause. The second National Con- 
gress assembled in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 17th of 
January, 1865. In the interim the sixty-three branches 
had gro^vn to be tliree hundred, while the financial 
receipts exceeded those of the whole seven years since 
the Brotherhood had been established. 

In addition to this success, Mr. O'Mahony said : " It 



HISTOEICAt rNTEODUCTIOK. 



61 



IS no idle boast to say that the English Government 
has been influenced in no small degree by the actions 
of the Fenians here and at home, in abstaining thus 
long from openly aiding in the dismemberment of our 
union. Thus, perhaps fortunately for our cause, while 
working for the liberation of Ireland, we are also serv- 
ing the best interests of America." 

Among the important subjects brought before the ■ 
Second Congress, was a lengthy report by Mr. Philip 
Coyne, of Missouri, Central Envoy to Ireland, of Ms 
examination and inspection of revolutionary aflfairs 
in Ireland. He reported the masses of the people as 
desirous for revolution, and that the middle class, 
though hesitating to pass into a career of trial and 
labor, would in the extremity of a revolutionary out- 
break, act boldly with the patriots. The national 
journal, The Irish People, was recommended for sus- 
tainment, for the courage and ability it displayed ; and 
the mode of organization of the I. R. B. was declared 
to be as nearly perfect as possible, being so arranged 
as to defy the strongest power or finest subtlety to 
penetrate it. 

On the recommendation of the Head Centre, the 
Constitution was amended so that the Central Council 
was enlarged to ten members, with a President chosen 
by and from themselves. He was to act on occasions 
for the Head Centre ; and the powers of the Council 



62 



FEXIAN HEROES Airt) MARTTE9. 



-n-ere materially extended. O'Maliony was unani- 
mously re-elected. 

MeauM'liile so great a flame could not exist in 
America without some smoke becoming visible in Ire- 
land. The newspaper reports of the progress of 
Fenianism' in America were regarded as astounding 
developments, and being reprinted in England and 
Ii-eland, excited the anxiety, and enlisted all the re- 
sources of the Irish Government to watch and ex- 
plode the counterpart Revolutionary Brotherhood, on. 
that side of the Atlantic. But the Irish Brother- 
hood was manipulated with exceeding skiU and fore- • 
sight, and baffled the keenest scent of the authorities, 
while it spread widely among the people. James 
Stephens, one of the youthful participators in the '48 
rising, had undertaken the organization of Ireland. 
Certain envoys having been sent to Ireland, from New 
York, for the purpose of seeing upon what basis a new 
revolutionary organization could be started in that 
country, carried letters from O'Mahony to Stephens, 
who had returned from France. In the early part 
of 1858, one of these envoys, Mr. Joseph Deniffe, 
returned to America with a written document from 
Stephens, showing already a formidable basis for ac- 
tion, and engaging, if he were sustained with certain 
funds, to greatly increase the number by harvest time. 
The Directoiy of '48 was appealed to in vain by 



HISTOEICAL tNTEODUCTION. 



03 



Meagher ; who, if he did not actively epter into the 
movement afterwards, would never wilfully hinder 
any measure imdertaken for Irish liberty. The money, 
although not amounting to more than two thousand 
dollars, was raised with difficulty. With the first in- 
stallment of it, Deniffe was sent back, also carrying 
with him a Commission for Stephens as Chief Direc- 
tor, signed by Doheny, O'Mahony, and others. 

Having enrolled some thirty-five thousand men, 
Stephens came to America in the fall of 1858, to re- 
port progress, and solicit more generous subsidies than 
he had received fi-om America. At a meeting of the 
friends of Ireland at Tammany Hall, ISTew York, the 
collection of a fund was inaugurated ; and at the request 
of Stephens, O'Mahony was created Head Centre. 
The arrest in Ireland at this time of the members of 
the " Phoenix Society," which showed that some active 
disloyalty existed there, gave the cause here a much 
needed, impetus, and aided the purposes of Stephens' 
visit. Attention had been directed to him on the 
Phcenix trials ; and for a couple of years following, 
during which time he was in France, the revolution- 
ary party did not seem to make much progress in Ire- 
land. This partly arose from the fact that remittan- 
ces from America were not of that character to keep it 
in working order. In December, 1860, Mr. O'Maho- 
ny went to Ireland himself, to be personally satisfied 



6i 



FESIAN HEEOES AND 1IAETTE3. 



on tlie state of affairs. Tlie most important districts 
were inspected, and a meeting of certain leadere held 
in Dublin, at -which definite plans were laid dowB. 
Stephens returned to Ireland and O'Mahony to 
America, and the organizations on both sides of the 
ocean progressed with powerfully effective strides. 
That Stephens was successful to a degree without par- 
allel in Ireland for half a century, cannot be ques- ' 
tioned. "With special qualifications as an organizer,, 
he traveled throughout the island under various names 
and in many disguises, making the personal acquaint- 
ance of the people, and was to them for some years 
an object of wonder, almost of worship. That ' 
O'Mahony had also done wonders in organizing the 
Brotherhood in America and Canada, was attested by 
the thankful Congress of Chicago, which passed reso* 
lutions recording his wisdom, genius, eminent purity ' 
and heroic virtues, during the five trying years 
through which the organization had struggled. 

The mystery which bafiled the Government in Ire- 
land, and the might which the auxiliary Fenian Soci- 
ctj'' of America represented, combined to be\vilder 
and exasperate the authorities. At the close of the 
Civil War many ofiicers of the Irish Brigade, L-ish Le- 
gion, and other Irish- American commands, which had 
seen much service, found their way into Ireland. Of 
these not a few regarded their preservation in the 



inSTOEICAL mTEODUCTION'. 



65 



great conflicts of the war, as a providential sign that 
they were destined to lead their countrymen to victory 
on their native soil. Young men were found drilling, 
books of drill-instruction were also discovered in suspi- 
cious places, and a variety of incidents added to the 
growing excitement. It was suddenly discovered that 
the Irish Government was sitting on a mine, that not 
only Cork and Dublin, and Tipperary, were hot-beds of 
disloyalty, but that disaffection was rife among the 
soldiery, and that the conspiracy had extensive ramifi- 
cations in Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and other 
manufacturing localities over the channel. A reward 
of £200 was offered for the captm-e of Stephens, all 
the transatlantic steamers were boarded and searched 
for Irish- American-looking persons,- and on the even- 
ing of the 15th of September, 1865, tlie Irish People 
Avas seized, and several arrests made, including Thomas 
Clarke Luby, J. O'Donovan (Eossa), and John O'Leary, 
the cliief conductors of that journal. Numerous ar- 
rests in Dublin, Cork and other localities followed, 
and a state of feeling, recalling the feverish days of '48, 
but on a much larger scale, was visible throuo-h- 
out the island. Several soldiers were arrested, and 
the Sergeant-Major of a regiment in Cork, acknow- 
ledged his signature to a Fenan roll-book M-Iiich 
had been captured. This suggested imminent in- 
security, and caused a run on the Cork banks. 



66 



FENIAN UEKOES AND ILVETYES. 



Bills of Exchange from the Fenian Treasury in New 
Yoi'k to the Irish leaders, amounting to no less than 
£3,000 were intercepted, and arrests of many import- 
ant local centres continued to be effected. 

This intelligence awoke widely-extended sympathy 
in America ; and after sitting for some days in New 
York, the Central Council of the Fenian Brotherhood 
issued a call for a Congress to be held in Philadelphia, 
on the 16th of October. The deliberations of this as- 
sembly were looked to with anxious anticipation. It 
was very largely attended, and the enthusiasm which 
had already existed was greatly intensified by the arri- 
val on the 19th, direct from Ireland, of Mr. P. J. Mee- 
han, who had visited it as the accredited envoy of the 
Brothei'hood. His report, which exhibited the accom- 
plislunent of a magnificent work, the organization as 
powerful, the management masterly, and the position 
solid, was received with exciting demonstrations. The 
most important measure of the Congress, however, 
was one changing the Constitution and officers, and 
drawing not a little ridicule on the organization. The 
new Constitution created a President, and Secretaries 
of the Treasury, Military, Naval and Cixdl Affairs, a 
Senate, the President of which would be Vice-Presi- 
dent of the Brotherhood, a Ilouse of Delegates, and 
all the governmental paraphernalia, in name, of a dis- 
tinct republic' within tlie American Eepublic. Other 



HISTORICAL INTEODUCTIOK. 



67 



important and depreciating changes were made ; and 
in a very brief period thereafter the vital differences 
introduced into the Constitution were augmented by 
differences between the " President" and the " Sen- 
ate," which extending, created a disastrous dismem- 
berment of the body of the organization. In a per- 
sonal way the differences bred distemper, distemper 
vilification, vilification subterfuge, and subterfuge 
found sustainment in dishonor, and culminated in 
hatred. The American public was disgusted, the Irish 
cause disgraced by the charges and counter-charges 
which the interested parties too readily rushed into 
print. The record of these painful confiicts would 
occupy volumes : I feel humiliated to have to refer to 
thein in a paragraph. It is only necessary here to add 
that John O'Mahony had been declared the unanimous 
choice of Senate and Delegates, for President, and 
was elected ; and that the seceding party, among whom 
were twelve of the fifteen newly-ci-eated Senators, 
chose William E. Eoberts, President of the Senate, as 
their Chief. The distinctive policy of the circles 
which followed the latter, developed into an armed 
expedition into Canada, which was attractive to a large 
class as offering more immediate excitement. Thus 
the powerful Fenian organization of America, became 
divided into what will be known as The Irish Party, 
and The Canadian Party. Under these exigences, the 



68 



FEXIAN nEE0E3 XSD SIAETTE3. 



former held a Fourth ISTational Congress, in New 
York, January 2, 1866. Over four hundred delegates, 
the largest representation of Fenians that had ever 
met, assembled, fi'om Australia, the Pacific shores, 
British Columbia, Canada, and all portions of the 
United States. The old Constitution was restored,' 
the Senate abolished, the history of the differences 
re^aewed, an address issued, and OTlfahony rein-' 
vested with the old office of Head Centre. The pro- 
ceedings of this Congress were accepted by a Military 
Convention, which assembled in" 'New York, on the 
22d of February, the anniversary of "Washington's 
birth-day, and issued a spiyted address " signed by 
eighty-five officers and forty sergeants, nearly eveiy 
one of whom had seen service. 

In the meantime there was no diminution of the 
excitement in Ireland ; and if anything would have 
united the discordant elements in America, a contem- 
plation of the state of affairs there should have done it. 
The arrest of Stephens in Ireland was a great triumph 
for the authorities ; but his defiant course when brought 
hefore the magistrates, and his subsequent wonderful 
escape from jail, soon turned the tables, and gave the 
victory to Fenianism and the people, l^otwithstand- 
ing that the Irish Attorney-General, at the close of 
the Special Commission, which tried the Fenian pris- 
oners, boasted that " every single individual connect- 



nlSTOKICAL INTKODUCTION. 



69 



ed with the Irhh Peoj>Ie," and every one of mark, 
indicated in the captured correspondence of Stephens 
and others, had been, with one or two exceptions, 
arrested and convicted ;* still in the middle of Febru- 
ary, 1866, the suspension of the Habeas Corpus was 
deemed necessary to control the wild cuiTent of con- 
spiracy which the Government could not otherwise 
stay. 

The debate on this measure, which took place 
on the 17th February, was rather brilliant, and as it 
bears directly on the state of Ireland, some facts elicit- 
ed in it very fitly fall into a brief narrative of the 
times. In proposing and advocating the bill. Sir 
George^;Grey, the Home Secretary, traced the history 
of Fenianism, from his stand-point, up to the close of 
the ^American War, when it took a more threaten- 
ing aspect. In the papers and proclamations captur- 
ed, he sa-w that the desire of the Fenians was the 
disruption of the connection with England. The cap- 
ture and comdction of so many of the leaders had 
not produced any good result. 

"For a time," said he, "the GoveniiHj3nt indulged in that 
hope, but with the escape of Stephens, which seemed to give them 
renewed energy, the activity of the conspirators increased. 
Shortly after these arrests, bills from America, to the amount of 

• Up to the introduction of the bill for the enspcnslon of the Eahtas Ctrrput, 
thirty six had been tried, comicted, and eentenced to varioos tenns of penal 
senitade. 



--"'•^i^^^^i^aifei ^ 



I n'fi>HM«ri^' 



;.^t raa^.^.»i/..arfi ii it nV t» > r-^^'^'^'^'»-^^*'*^'^'^^^^ 



70 



FENIAU HEE0E8 AND JL4.ETYR9. 



HISTOEICAI. INTEODUCTION. 



71 



no less than £3,000, addressed to the leaders of the conspiracy 
■who were then in custody, were mtercepted by the Government, 
The Irish People newspaper, which had been suppressed in Dub- 
lin, was ostentatiously republished in America, and sent to Ireland 
for circulation about the coimtry. Of course, wherever that paper 
has been found containing treasonable articles, it has been seized by 
order of the Government, and any person found circulating it is 
Bubjeot, no doubt, to a prosecution; but if this paper is brought 
over, and privately circulated by the agents, who are constantly 
coming from America, it is impossible for the Government, under 
the existing power of the law, to prevent it." 

The Secretary justified the suspension, on the de- 
mands made by Lord "Wodehouse, the Viceroy of Ire- 
land, -whose letters were full of most significant testi- 
mony to the power of the Fenian Brotherhood. 
"Writing on the 21st January, 1866, Lord Wodehouse 
says : 

" I hope that the presence of troops in some of the towns may 
perliaps allay the general alarm. I am, however, by no means 
confident on this point, and I wish to call the serious attention of 
the Government to the state of affairs here, which I regret to say 
becomes daily more unsatisfactory. When the People was seized 
and the arrests made, the Fenians were for a while stunned by tha 
blow, especiall}' by the arrest of Stephens, but after Stephens' es- 
cape their spirits great!/ revived, and theh' activity was renewed. 
At the present moment, notwithstanding the perfect success of tha 
Crown at the trials, they are more active than ever. I waited pa- 
tiently to see would the alarm in the countiy subside, but the 
alarm has gone on continually increasing. I am now disposed to 
tiy wliat effect can be produced by proclamations, and by detach- 
ing troops to the more remote districts. "With this view, we aro 
about to send troops to Tralee and Sligo, and to proclaim the coim- 
tics of Sligo and Carlow, in accordance with the strongly express- 
ed wishes of the magistrates. Other proclamat; ons will probably be- 



come necessary hereafter. But I do not expect that these measures 
will be sufficient ; and in common with Sir. Fortescue and the Attor- 
ney-General, I have come to the conclusion that we may have to 
propose to the Cabmet to ask Parliament to suspend the IIabe<M 
Corpus Act. Wliat we have to deal with is a secret revolutionary 
organization spread over a great part of the countiy, supported by 
money from the Irish in America and Great Britian. This organi- 
zation has its paid agents in most of the towns in Ireland, diligent- 
ly propagating rebellion and swearing in recruits. I send you a 
return of men who served in the American war, who are known 
to the Constabulary as Fenian agents. There are, no doubt, 
others who escape notice. I have asked for a similar return from 
the rest of Ireland. These are the men who would take command 
of the rebels, and there cannot be a more dangerous class. Be- 
sides them, we know that there are some hundreds of men in Dub- 
lin and elsewhere who have come over from England and Scotland, 
who receive regular pay, and are waiting for the signal of an 
outbreak. Now, we see no remedy for this but to suspend the 
Habeas Corpus Act. We should be able to arrest the paid 
agents of revolution, and to prevent the assemblage in the capital 
of men sent over specially to take part in a rising. The remedy 
may appear sharp, but the disease is very serious, and I am con- 
vmced will yield to nothing but sharp treatment. Without saying 
that the moment has actually arrived for so strong a measure as 
the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, I have thought it 
right to warn the Cabinet that, in my judgment, that moment is 
not far distant. " # 

He says they have arrested various agents from 
America, but they are " too wary to carry about with 
them the evidence necessary to convict them." They 
usually had " drill-bo^oks " and money. On the 4th of 
February, his Excellency has little hope of pacifying 
the alarm ; on the 9th, he is in better spirits, look- 
ing forward to " the suppression of the conspiracy, 



^rs'^g;g?5: ?»tjj. ' Aa^y»!" T y.va i -'S'y»'>V -i B' '- i<^ 



n 



FENIAN UER0E3 AND IiLVKTTRS. 



"by the means at his disposal," by " a judicious dis- 
posal of the troops at his command';" Tjut, on the 
14th, he finds he has not power enough to do it, 
and that the only safety of the English interest 
in Ireland depends on the suspension of the Ilateas 
Cor])us. Nothing would save it but " prompt, imme- 
diate action." " The state of aifairs," he wi-ites, " is 
very serious. The conspirators, undeterred by the 
punishment of so many of their leaders, are actively 
organizing an outbreak, with a view to destroyi the 
Queen's authority." Sir Hugh Kose had detailed to 
his Excellency various plans of action he had discov- 
ered, and also that the American agents were getting 
plans of detached forts and barracks. 

"And he draws no exaggerated picture. There are scattered 
over the country a number of agents, who are swearing in mem- 
bers, and who are prepared to take the command when the mo- 
ment arrives. Tliese men are of the most dangerous class. They 
are Ii'ishmen imbued with American notions, thoroughly reckless, 
and possessed of considerable militai'y experience, acquired on a 
field of warfare, (the civil war in America,) admirably adapted to 
train them for conducting an insurrection here. There are 340 
such men known to the police in the provinces, and those known 
in Dublin amount to about 160, so that in round numbers there are 
600 — of course tliere are many more who escape notice. This 
number is being augmented by fresh men constantly arriving from 
America. In Dubliu itself there are several hundred men (per- 
haps about 300 or 400) wlio have come over from England and 
Scotland, who receive Is. iid. a day, and are waiting for the time 
of action. Any one may obser\'e these men loitering about 
at the comers of the streets. (Hear, hear.) As to arms we have 



HISTORICAL rNTRODUCTION. 



73 



found no less than three regular manufactories of pikes, bullets 
and cartridges in Dublin. The police believe that several more ex- 
ist. Of course, bullets are not made unless they had nfles to put 
tliem in. The disaffection of the population in certain counties 
such as Corli, Tipperary, Waterford, Dublin, is alanning, and it is 
day by day spreading more and more through every part of the 
country. But the most dangerous feature in the present move- 
ment is the attempt to seduce the troops. Are we to allow tliese 
agents to go on instilling their poison into our armed force, upon 
which our security mauily depends I" 

Mr. John Bright would not oppose the bill, but 
threw the responsibility of its necessity on the evil 
and unwise legislation of England for Ireland. He 
did not believe the Secretary overstated the case. On 
the contrary, he believed that if the majority of the 
people of Ireland had their will, and could do it, 
they would remove their island two thousand miles 
■west of England ; that they would, if they could, by 
conspiracy, insurrection, or constitutional agitation, 
shake ofi^ English domination to-morrow. 

" After centuries of English government, after 60 years of goT- 
ernment by the Imperial Parliament, we find this people of Ire- 
land engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the authority of the 
Crown of Great Britain, and to forcibly separate their countiy 
from its connection with Eugland. We are not now discussing a 
rare and singular occurrence in the history of Ireland. Fenianism 
is only an aggravated outbreak of an old disorder, for within the 
memory of the oldest man in tliis House, Ireland has not been free 
from chronic disaffection. * * » * S>\-s.\.y years ago this 
House undertook to govei-n Ireland. I will say nothing of the 
circumstances under which the union of the two countries took 
place, save that they were disgi'aceful and corrupt to the last de- 



u 



FENIAN HEEOES AOT) MAETTEa. 



gree. I will say nothing of tlie manner in which the promises 
made to the Iiish people were broken." 

During this period, in his opinion, but tlu-ee acts 
of Irish relief were passed, while ' 

"Complaints of their sufferings have been met often by denial, 
often by insult, and often by contempt (liear) ; and within the last 
few years we have heard from this very Treasury Bench observa- 
tions with regard to Ireland wliich no friend of Ireland, or of Eng- 
land, and no Minister of the Crown ought ever to have uttered, 
with regard to that countiy. (Cheers.) Twice in my Parliament, 
ary life these things have been done — at least by the close of this 
day they will have been done — -that measures of repression, meas- 
ures of suspension of the civil rights of the people, have been 
brought into Parliament, and passed with extreme and unusual 
rapidity. * * * If I go back to the Ministers who have sat on 
these benches since I have been in the House — Sir Eobert Peel 
first, then Lord John Russell, then Lord Derb}% then Lord Aber- 
deen, then Lord Palmerston, then Lord Derby again, and now Earl 
KusseU — they did not all sit here, and I speak, of course, of their 
governments, I say with regard to all these men, the dead and the 
living, there has not been an approach to anything that history will 
describe as statesmanship in this matter. (Hear, hear.) Coercion 
Bills in abundance, Ai'ms Bills Session after Session — lamentations 
like that of the right hon. gentleman, the member for Buckingliam- 
shire to-day, that the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act to a 
certain extent was not made perpetual by a clause which he regrets 
was repealed — Acts for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus 
Act, like that which we are now discussing — all these there have 
been ; but there has been no statesmanship. (Hear, hear.) Why, 
men the most clumsy and the most brutal can do these things ; but 
it wants men of higher temper, of higher genius, and I will even 
add of higher patriotism to deal with the affairs of Ireland." 

Eecurring to the strong terms in which the Secre- 
tary referred to the " unhappy fact" that much of the 



tsr 



HISTOEICAI. rNTEODUCTION'. 



75 



disaffection in Ireland was sent from the United 
States, Mr. Bright could take no consolation from it. 
It only added difficulty and gravity to the question ; 
for if the Irish have settled in America with so strong 
an hostility to England, " they have had their reasons ;" 
and if, with the feeling of affection for their native 
country, which in all other cases they " admired and 
reverenced," the American Irish stiiTed up the sedi- 
tion which existed, " depend upon it there is in the 
condition of Ireland a state of things which greatly 
favors their attempts." After rating the milristers for 
lack of statesmanship, in fighting for office, and not 
considering either theii* duty to the people or the sov- 
ereign, he said : 

" It is not in human nature — all history teaches this — that men 
should be content under a system of legislation and of institutions 
such as exists in Ireland. You may pass this BUI — ^yon. may put 
the Home Secretary's 500 men in gaol, you may suppress conspir- 
acy and put down insurrection, but the moment they are suppressed 
there will still remain the germs of the malady, and from those 
germs will grow up, as heretofore, another crop of disaffection, 
another harvest of misfortunes. (Hear, hear.) And those mem- 
bers of this House — ^younger it may be than I am — who may be 
here 18 j'ears hence, may find another Ministry and another Secre- 
tary of State proposing to them another administration of the 
same ever- failing and poisonous medicine." 

Although the key-note of Bright's speech was how 
by good government to make the Irish as loyal as the 
Scotch and English, yet Jtlr. Koebuck characterized it 



1Q 



FENIAN HEH0E3 M!T> MAETTR3. 



as meant for mere mischief, as " Irishmen had no griev- 
ances to complain of." Mi'. Horsman thought Bright's 
speech "valuable only to the Fenian conspiracy." 
Mr. Stuart Mill did not blame her Majesty's ministers 
for the present state of affairs, as they could not be re- 
sponsible " for the misdeeds and neglect of centuries," 
but he agreed with Bright that the Bill was cause of 
shame and humiliation to England. The question 
then fell into the hands of the Irish members. Mr. 
John B. Dillon thought that Fenianism was exag- 
gerated, because he was able to defeat its influence at 
the last general election, but he perfectly well knew on 
the other hand tliat whatever power the organization 
possessed, was derived from the general dissatisfaction 
of the Irish people, arising out of years of misgovern- 
mcnt. This conviction justified him in opposing the 
measure, introduced by the Government. He briefly 
replied to Roebuck's sneer that Ireland had no griev- 
ance. They excused the necessity of doing justice to 
Ireland by publishing for years that she was in pro- 
found repose and contentment : and when she is not 
contented, but seditious, they also use that as a 
reason to withhold beneficial legislation. Dillon, for 
one, could not aid them in any efibrt to quell that 
discontent which, he believed, was caused by a de- 
nial of justice. In his opinion, discontent and dis- 
affection were not umnixed evils, as he believed that 



HISTOEICAI, INTEODPCTIOW. 



77 



but for discontent in England, there would have been 
no Reform Bill, and unless Mr. Bright had exerted 
himself to excite discontent the probability was that 
we should still have been suffering under the burden 
of the corn laws. 

A ]VIr. ConoUy, believed Ireland was galvanized into 
rebellion by America, and also that concessions would 
not lessen the prevailing insubordination. Sir John 
Gray regarded Bright's speech as calculated to do 
mischief. He did not want to hear Fenian speeches 
in the House; and declared the purposes of the 
Fenians to be the taking of life? and property. The 
O'Donoghue, though not a Fenian, came to their 
defence and covered Gray with confusion. 

" He was convinced, that robbeiy and murder were not the mo- 
tives of the organizers of the movement. He attached no weight 
to that allegation, because he Imew that similar charges had been 
made against all those who at any time had endeavored to brin- 
about a national movement in Ireland. They were made aoainsl 
O'Connell (hear, hear, from Sir. Bright), and they were made-if 
he might be allowed to say so-against the hon. member for KU- 
kenny (Sir J. Gray), when he was a distmguished inmate of Rich. 
mond Bridewell. (Much laughter. ) Statements of that kind were 
no doubt useful in throwing discredit on the movement, but he 
mamtained that when those statements were without foundation it 
was discreditable to use them." (Hear, hear.) 

Coercion was not what Ireland required. The 
O'Donoghue believed it would create a panic and in- 
tensify disaffection. He had read in the leading jour- 



T8 



FEXIAX HEEOES AlfD ilAETYES. 



nal that the notice of the bill was received ^yith cheei*3. 
These came, he said, " ti-om the representatives or de- 
luders of the small Orange party of Ulster, who looked 
xjpoa it that the greatest blessuig the Government 
could bestow on Ireland would be to suspend the Con- 
stitution, not for six months, but for ever." Out of a 
House of three hundred and seventy members, but 
six voted against leave to bring in the BilL Hence it 
was brought in and put thi'ough all its stages within 
twelve hours. With similar speed it went throVigh 
the Lords the same day ; the Earl of Derby taking 
occasion to say he could not admit " that the Fenian, 
conspiracy was entirely due to the closing of the 
American war, because he knew that in 1859, the 
Ph(Bnix conspiracy prevailed in Ireland, and had nu- 
merous branches in America." The celerity of Eng- 
lish legislation, in this instance, in bringing aid to 
the English interest- in L-eland was almost without 
parallel.* 

All of which was an acknowledgment to the world, 
as plain as words and actions could make it, that the 
perennial protestations of England to the effect that 
Ireland was profoundly happy, contented and improv- 
ing, was a wanton and heartless fabrication to shield 

* But two cases of similar promptitude occur In the history of English legis- 
lation : one when a bill was passed to aid recruiting of laud forces when George 
II announced to Parliament that he had declared war against France, April 3, 
1774 ; and the other on the 9th of May, 1797, to meet the grievances of the 6ai> 
ore of the Bojal Navy, which culminated in the " Mutiny of the Nore." 



HISTOEICAI, INTEODUCnOlT. 



79 



her continued mis-government of that country. This 
preaching of Irish prosperity when there is dearth, of 
contentment when there is discontent, of improve- 
ment when there is impoverishment, is a very old sub- 
terfuge. Swift strove to combat it. In his day the 
corn-tier who wished to be successful, kept the Irish 
question out of sight, by misrepresenting the state of 
the country, and alleging it was " in a flourishing con- 
dition, the rent and purchase of land every day in- 
creasing." "If," says Swift, in 1727, "a gentleman 
happens to be a little more sincere in^his representa- 
tion, besides being looked on as not weU-affected, he is 
sure to have a dozen contradictors at his elbow.' 

In Swift's statement, Mr. Bright could find another 
illustration of his charge on the vriLful apathy of Eng- 
lish ministers toward Irish rights, for the case is ex- 
actly the same to-day as when the Dean of St. Pat- 
rick's wrote his able but short view of the state of 
Ireland. 



m ,.|J.'-J'-'.-i"tf.'J--'--A^v^ 



80 



FEXIAN HEEOES ASD ilARTSSS. 



I 



CHAPTEE m; 

THE mSUKEECnON IN lEELAin) ^AMERICAN SYMPATHY. 

Effect of the Saspension of the Habeas Corpus — The News in America — Arriv- 
al of Stephens in New York — O'Mahony retires — Invasion of Canada — The 
Canadian Party disrupt Stephens' Plans — His Mission a Failure— Rising in 
Kerry— Searching vessels for Fenians — General Insurrectionary Movement^ in 
Ireland— Proclamation of Provisional Government—Riots among the Soldiers 
— Massey betrays the Movement— Irish Party in America— Fifth Congress in 
New York — Great Meeting Jn Union Square — Letter from Mayor Hoffman — 
Negotiations for Union— The Cause in U. S. Congress — Resolutions of Sym- 
patliy reported by Gen. Banks — Speeches and Vote on it — The Queen declares 
Ireland Tranquil and the People Loyal— Contradicted by Mr. Monsell and Mr. 
Bright — Remarkable Speech <'f Mr. Monsell — Bright declares that Ireland 
should not be Tranquil— Sixth National Congress held in New York — Mr, 
Savage elected Chief Executive— Remarlcs. 

The suspension of the Habeas Coi^jpus gave the 
Eonght-for scope to the English authorities in Ireland. 
Arrests "were made on every side, and prisoners were 
counted by hundreds. The secret movements of 
Stephens were continuous sources of excitability, and 
a Fenian riot in Bradford, Yorkshire, at which the 
Irish Republic was cheered, and the police severely 
handled, was not calculated to raise public coniidence. 

In America, the news begat renewed activity all 
over the country. Mass meetings in the open ^ir and 
in the principal public halls were held in New York, 



mSTOEICAL INTEODUCTIOK. 



81 



Washington, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Boston, Balti- 
more, Savannah, Mobile, and many other cities and 
towns, and a general clamor for action came from all 
points to the headquarters in JSTew York. The Irish 
party and the Canadian party still continued to widen 
the breach between them, and while the latter was 
preparing to move on Canada, the former made a fu- 
tile attempt to occupy Campo Bello as a military de- 
pot. Soon after this event Mr. Stephens arrived in 
New York amid great eclat, and O'Mahony withdrew 
to give his coadjutor a chance to adjust differences. 
It was thought that Mr. Eoberts woultJ yield the con- 
trol of the Canadian party,' as O'Mahony had retired 
from that of the Irish party, and thus open the way 
for a union of both under the lead of Stephens. This 
hope, however, was without foundation ; and the for- 
mer making a move on Canada, and engaging the Ca- 
nadian troops at Eidgeway, attracted universal atten- 
tion. Thus becoming the "party of action" for the 
moment, the Canadian party greatly distracted the 
Fenian element, and effectually interfered with Ste- 
phens' purpose in America. 

To counteract the effect of the raid across the St. 
Lawrence, as well as to keep pace with a demand for 
action which he had cultivated in the public mind, 
Stephens made promises, which he was nofr able to 
perform. He promised to effect a rising in Ireland, 
4* 



83 



FESUii HEK0E3 AND MAETTRS. 



by a stated time, and when tliat time arrived, re- 
lieved himself by another promise. He deemed this 
.politic, and had the example of perhaps the greatest 
modern politician, O'Connell, for such a course ; but 
it is to be hoped that the race which a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago periodically cheered the announcement that 
Kepeal would be attained " in six months" is extinct. 
The mission of Stephens to America was a failure ; he 
finally declined moving in Ireland, and retired into _ 
privacy in Paris. His military friends sought to force 
him to redeem his promises at any and every risk ; 
and failing in this, took it upon themselves to make 
the attempt. 

On the faith of the promises of a rising, numbers of 
veteran officers had gone to their different posts in 
Ireland and England, at the close of 1866 and the be- 
ginning of 1S67. These were now joined by the mili- 
tary staff of the ex-chief, and the determination of 
these men to strike a blow was soon illustrated. A 
Fenian demonstration at the English city of Chester, 
on the 11th Febniary, produced a tremendous panic in 
England ; but the intentions of the revolutionists were 
fi-ustrated by Corydon, the informer, who was in the 
pay of the English authorities from the September 
previous. "Within a couple of days a revolt took place 
in Ken-y., under Colonel John J. O'Connor, and the 
locality became the scene of great excitement, which 



HISTOEICAJL INTKODTJCTION. 



83 



extended to Cork and Limerick. Military disposi- 
tions were speedily effected under one of the "In- 
dian heroes ;" but O'Connor, a young veteran of the 
Irish Brigade, out-manoeuvred him, retreated with his 
band to the mountains, and completely baffled the 
troops. On the 15th, the Government stated to Par- 
liament that " Colonel Horsford's force was altogether 
too small to follow the armed band of Fenians into^ 
Toomie's "Wood." 

The rising in Ireland was to have been simultaneous, 
but discovering that the plan for the capture of Ches- 
ter Castle, and the troops in it, had been betrayed ; and 
concluding, of course, that the Government was pre- 
pared at all points, the leaders sent messengers coun- 
termanding the revolt. Owing to his remote position, 
the order failed to reach Colonel O'Connor in time to 
prevent his action, which thus had the appearance <>f 
an isolated movement. In a few days the " outbreak 
at Killarney " was declared " at an end " by the In- 
dian hero, who thought, probably, that he had ended 
it : and in a week telegrams everywhere conveyed the 
blissful news, " Ireland is perfectly tranqmL" "While 
the telegraph was busy making news of Ireland's tran- 
quility, the authorities were pui-suing another mode ot 
achieving that end, and of contradicting it at the 
same time. Every vessel arriving at an Irish port was 
searched by men armed with cutlasses, and expert in 



"^"^"i li-ia-.iiMT-'-'^"-" " 



81 



FEXIA^ HEKOES AOT) MAT^TTES. 



the science of pliysiognomy. Any one looking like a 
rebel was instantly seized, pinioned, and thrown into 
prison. A couple of days' work will illustrate how- 
tranquil the Government believed Ireland to be. 

" On the arrival of tlie Alexandra thhty-one were seized aboard 
of her, tbirty-sjx on board the Columbia a few minutes after. Next 
day forty more were added to the number on their arrival by the 
Hibernia and Trafalgjir, and subsequently the same afternoon twen- 
ty-eight more. On Thursday twelve were added to the roll, and 
several in Drogheda and elsewhere, as they thought to land in the 
soil of their birth and their fathers. " • 

The tranquility, however, did not last long, even on 
paper. " Ireland again in rebellion" M-as the startling 
news which in detail explained how a simultaneous re- 
volt had taken place in various parts of the island on 
the 5th of March. The previous announcements 
gave the intelligence a thrilling effect, and the public 
mind was wought to a state of bewildering fermenta- 
tion by the confirmatioii' of reports sho^ving that an 
evidently well-designed plan of insurrection had de- 
veloped itself in tliree provinces of the kingdom. The 
leaders controlling the movement promulgated this 
proclamation simultaneously in Ireland and America: 

PROCLAMATION. 
After seven centuries of outrage and miseiy unequalled in the 
history of humanity ; after having seen our laws, our rights, our 
liberty trodden under foot by the foreigner ; our lands p°ass from 
the Irish farmer to the Irish or foreign usurper, and the rightful 
o^vne^8 of hundreds of years supplanted by cattle destined to sup- 



t 



HISTORICAL INTEODUCTION. 



85 



ply the markets of England ; after having seen our skilled work- 
men driven into exile, our men of thought and action to imprison- 
ment and the scaflbld ; having no longer either lands to cultivate, 
laws or acknowledged rights to invoke ; in a word, having nothing 
pertaining to man save the faculty of suffering or the determina- 
nation to tight, we cheerfully choose this last resort. 

All men have a right to liberty and happiness. Believing that 
there can be no durable liberty or happiness except upon the basis 
of free labor, and that there can be no free labor when the means of 
labor is not free ; considering besides the' first means of labor is the 
soil, and that the Irish soil, instead of being in the hands of the 
Irish working men, is held by a selfish and despotic oligarchy, we 
declare it to be our determination to repossess ourselves of that 
soil by force. 

Considering that all men are born with equal natural rights, and 
that by associating themselves together to protect one another and 
share public burdens, justice demands that such association should 
rest upon an equitable basis — such as maintains equality instead of 
destroying it — we declare that we aim at founding a Republic 
based upon universal suffrage, securmg to all the mtrinsic value of 
their labor. 

We declare that we wish absolute liberty of conscience, and the ' 
complete separation of Church and State. 

The public expenses will be paid by a progi-essive capitation 
(labor being free from any impost.) 

Calling upon God and mankind to witness the justice of our 
cause and the intensity of our sufferings, we declare in the face of 
tlie worid, in order to succeed in reconquering the inalienable 
rights that all men receive at their birth, we take up arms to com- 
bat the dominant oligarchy ; and as its strength dwells in its credit, 
based upon its property, we will employ to destroy it every means 
that science, or even despair, shall place within our reach. 
"Wherever the English flag waves over English property it shall be 
torn down, if it be possible, without fear or truce ; and we swear 
in the sacred name of our countr>', by the sufierings of those who 
now endure the tortures of living tombs for the cause, by the dear 
and revered names of those who have died for the freedom- of Ire- 



86 



liiiiirilwiriiiiiia«"ifillr"rtiTitfiiilf*iiir 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAJBTYES. 



■mit-i'ii '^''"''■•'•■'i-f^^j „■ 



land, by our honor and that of our children that this war shall 
cease only Tvhen the Irish Republic shall be recognized, or when 
the last man of our race shall lie in his grave. 

Republicans of the entire world, our cause is yours I Our en- 
emy is your enemy. Let your hearts be with us. As for you 
workmen of England, it is not only your hearts that we wish, but 
your arms. Remember the starvation and degradation brought to 
your firesides by oppressed labor. Remember the past, look well 
to the future, and avenge yourselves by giving liberty to your 
children in the coming struggle for human freedom I . 

Herewith we proclaim the Irish Republic I 



The Ibish 1'eople. 



(Signed) 



THE IRISH PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. 

The first report of the insurrection was made by the 
attack on the barracks in Droglieda. The next was 
fi'om Castle-Martyr, in Cork, distant two hundred 
'miles; and these were rapidly followed up by armed 
displays and conflicts with the Government forces in 
the counties of Dublin, Limerick, Down, Clare, "Wick- 
low, Waterford, Kildare, Kilkenny, Queen's County, 
and Tipperary. The wildest rumors agitated society. 
^Nothing was talked of but attacks on barracks, con- 
flicts with the military, midnight mano3u^Tes, railroads 
broken up, telegraph wires torn down, Fenian arrests 
and " Greek fire." Fenianism in the army had created 
jealousies and bickerings, Avhich found an -occasional 
outlet in the form of a riot : and some of the soldiers 
who fell in the open conflicts with the Fenians, were 



HISTORICAL INTEOBUCTION. 



87 



not all brought to the dust, it would seem, by the peas- 
ant jackets.* 

Of the several "disturbances" which occm-red, both 
in England and Ireland, among the soldiers, one is es- 
pecially noteworthy— it being a "serious fight" which 
took place at Ballincollig EaiTacks, near.Cork, " among 
the British soldiers stationed there to protect the ex- 
tensive artillery, depot and government powder-mills. 
The cause of the outbreak was of course Fenianism." 
The Irish soldiers, assisted by somV companies of a 
Scotch regiment, attacked the English lancer regiment, 
which had disgraced itself by acts of brutality in Dun- 
garvan, and "the result was that several lives were 

• The following remartaWe letter was printed in the London Morning Post: 
" SiE,— A reprint of a letter which appeared in year jonmal a few days ago, on 
the above subject, has just come under my notice, having been copied into a 
Dublin ncwEpaper. In reply, I would bog your permission to make a few re- 
marks through the medium of jour aristocratic, though apparently impartia^ 
journal The writer of the letter in question seems to have road a one-sided, and 
consequently false, account of the rising of the Brotherhood in defence of their 
liberty, when he says: 'Several of the interesting Fenian Brotherhood have 
been shot do-vvn in armed rebellion against their Sovereign. • • • I hope 
he (Lord Strathnaimi will shoot many more, and hang and flog the remainder.' 
Allow me to inform the writer that for every one of our Brotherhood shot, six 
men of the British soldiers have fallen. Many of these, I know, were shot by 
their own comrades in skirmish-not accidentally, but because of their perfidy 
towards the ca;ise of freedom, and their avowed determination to show the Fe- 
. nians ' no quarter.' In a skirmish, in which I had temporary command, I saw 
no fewer than sis of the 6th Carbineers unhorsed by one voUey from our ranks, 
These were taken away in wagons, and nobody has since heard of them. I could 
cite many instances of a similar kind, if it were necessary. The fact is, sir, the 
British Government is most careful in keeping all these matters secret, for ob- 
vious reasons; but should you publish this letter, the Irish people, or at least 
such of them as belong to the L R. army, or have made strict inqniries into the 
faciB of the case, will fully corroborate my statements. I am, sir, your obedient 
servant, A Sergeant- JIajob of the 19th Regiment, Ieish Republic Abjit." 



■i^^^2m£^Mu 



liihffii''"-*''^f'ii 'Pr' — 



S3 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETTES. 



lost." All possible efforts -were made to keep this se- 
cret; but it leaked out novertbelcss, and next day, 
Avbile the Scotch companies were marching through 
the city of Cork, they were loudly cheered by the peo- 
ple. This ovation, says the account, was received by 
the Scotchmen with very evident pleasure. 

The infamous Corydon put the authorities on the 
track of Godfrey Massey, a sort of adjutant-general to 
Colonel Thomas J. Kelly, who had direction of affairs • 
in America after the retirement of Stephens. Massey 
was arrested on the night of the 4th March, at Limer- 
ick junction, -swooned, woke up in the Castle, and un- 
der the influences of a vindictive, cowardly nature, and 
his wife, betrayed the cause. The Government, in pos- 
session of sufficient information to shorten the hfe of 
the insuiTection, lost no time in putting forth its every 
appliance for its suppression. The history of the Fe- 
nian revolt of '67, cannot now be detailed ; but the 
world has already acknowledged the courage, dignity 
and devotion brought to its service by such heroic 
spirits as Peter O'Xeill Crowley, Thomas Francis 
Bourke, and their comrades — some dead, like the for- 
mer, and others, like the latter, reprieved from the 
scaffold to suffer a living death in pei^petual impris- 
onment. 

The Irish party in America labored earnestly, tm- 
tiringly, and to a comparative degree, effectively, to 



HISTOKIOAL tNTEODUOnON. 



89 



sustain the patriots in Ireland. The history of the 
Brotherhood in America, if ever written, will disclose 
as noble labors and sacrifices, made by men in so-called 
"humble life," to keep the organization in healthy 
existence, as ever refreshed the hopes of a struggling 
people. Immediately after the rising in Kerry, a Na- 
tional Convention (the fifth) was called, and assembled 
in New York on the 27th February. Affair,} were in 
a great state of disarrangement, consequent on the feel- 
ings produced by Mr. Stephens' action. These were 
adjusted, Mr. Anthony A. Grifiin was elected Execu- 
tive, and measures taken to carry out a beneficial plan 
of operations in aid of Irish Freedom. These were at 
once inaugurated, and the cable intelligence of the 
simultaneous risings of the 5th ]\Iarch already found 
the Directory at work. On the 10th, an appeal waa 
issued by the Executive imploring harmony among all 
parties, in view of the fact that England was willing 
to spend millions of money and sacrifice thousands of 
lives to subjugate or extirpate our race. 

A great open-air mass meeting was held on the even- 
m<y of March 13th, in Union Square, which, notwith- 
standing the extreme inclemency of the weather — 
a' chill rain constantly falling — was attended by over 
fifteen thousand persons, who were addressed from 
three stands. Among the letters of sympathy receiv- 
ed, was one from the Honorable the Mayor of the city 



90 



FEXIAX HEKOES AKD MAETTRS. 



of 'New York, wliicli has more tlian temporary inter- 
est. It reads as follows : 

Gentlejie:? : I have received this day your invitation to attend 
a mass meetingto aid the Irish Revolutionists, now battling for lib- 
erty, to be held at Union Squaie, on to-morrow evening, at half- 
past seven o'clock. 

I ara aware that it is somewhat the custom of public men to ap- 
proach the Fenian movement with a dslicate regard for our neu- 
traluy obligations, and of the duties enjoined by the laws of nations. 
Apart from my sympathy for the cause of Ireland, I may be par- 
doned if I do not individually entertain any high estimate of Great 
Britain's claims on us to keep peace wilhin her dominions. When 
■we were struggling for national existence, and the cause of Repub- 
lican Government was on its great, perhaps, final trial, England 
gave aid and comfort, the violation of every principle of ni^utrality, 
on the side which it beheved would work the destruction of our free 
institutions. Her people gave sympathy, money, ships and men, 
and munitions of war, to be used against us. 

I do not counsel, nor will I countenance, any violation of the 
laws of our country ; but I do not stand alone in the community 
in feeling no very keen sense of our national obligation to England, 
and an indisposition, to go out of my way to seek safeguards for her 
protection. 

At all events, I feel no restraint in expressing, as an American 
citizen, my most ardent sympathy in the struggle which is now 
taking place in Ireland, and my hope in its ultimate success. 

In the earlier days pf the Republic, our Government did not 
stand on ceremony in expressing its sentiments in behalf of strug- 
gling nations emerging into freedom. More than forty years ago, 
when Greece was battling against the domination of the Turk, Presi- 
dent Monroe did not hesitate to make their cause a subject of a mes- 
sage to Congress, and to express the " strong hope long entertain- 
ed, founded on the heroic struggle of the Greeks, that they would 
succeed in the contest, and reassume their equal station among the 
nations of the earth;" and later, the Congress of the United States 



^3^ 



HISTOEICAI, INTEODITCTIOIT. 



91 



did not hesitate to express its sympathy for the fallen fortunes of 
the Revolutionists of Hungary, and to tender an asylum in this 
country to Kossuth and his gallant followers. 

Should we hesitate to send words of cheer and encouragement, 
and more substantial aid to the men who are now fighting for the 
redemption of their native land, because the land is not Hungaiy, 
or Poland, or Greece, but Ireland, and the oppressor is not Austria, 
Russia or Turkey, but England ? 

To my mind, the ultimate success of the people of Ireland in es- 
tabh-'-ti^ theu- rights is a certainty. It is impossible that a nation 
of men of courage and capacity, firmly united in the determination 
to be free, can long be held in the chains of service subjection. Ire- 
land demands the restitution of its ancient right of self-government ; 
that it shall no longer be under the yoke of a power alien in reli- 
gion, in feeling, in interests ; it demands freedom, equality, and the 
rights which belong to manhood. 

If our Government proves anything, it proves that these demands 
are just and right, and our history certainly indicates the validity 
of revolution. But it should be borne in mind that revolutions 
which do not turn backward are successful revolutions. Unsuc- 
cessful revolutions rivet the chains of despotism, and give a longer 
day to the oppressor. I know not what may be the means of the 
men in Leland, or whether this is the fitting opportunity to strike 
the blow. To give the onward word of command in such a crisis . 
of destiny to a people, involves the gravest responsibility. 

Let us hope that they who are charged with the responsibility, 
have acted wisely and well, and unite in earnest prayer for an early, 
successful and happy solution of the troubles of a long-suffering 
people. 

Regretting that the brief time allotted prevents a more elaborate 
reply, I am, veiy respectfully, John T. Hoffman. 

The resolutions adopted were of a clear and forcible 
cliaracter, pledging aid to the patriots, declaring it to 
he the duty of all lovers of free institutions to sustain 
those who strive to extend the blessings of self-govern- 



93 



FEXIAN HEE0E3 AOT) MAETYKS. 



HISTORICAL INTEODUCTION. 



93 



ment to tlie natives of every land ; and concluding by 
most earnestly calling " upon every section and class 
of our Irish-born fellow-citizens, to lay aside all parti- 
san strife and personal animosities at this momentous 
crisis of their country's fate, and to unite together, and 
rally as one man to the support of their brave country- 
men, now battling for their National Independence." 
^Negotiations were undertaken to effect a union with 
the leaders of the Canadian party at this time, but 
without success ; and the Irish party bent itself with 
redoubled zeal and energy to attract public sympathy 
and aid to the noble cause it represented. The sub- 
ject of Irish liberty having been brought to the at- 
tention of the United States Congress, the Chairman 
of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Eepresentatives, presented a resolution on the 27th 
of March, which though not as bold and broad as the 
services of the Irish, and the baseness of England to 
this republic during the war would warrant, is never- 
theless of historical import, as putting on record a fact 
to which England will not lovingly refer. The reso- 
lution, moreover, received sufBcient opposition to more 
emphatically distinguish the remarkable unanimity by 
which it was adopted. The interesting proceedings 
are thus condensed: 

Mr. BantvS. — I am instructed by the Committee on Foreign Af- 
fairs to report the following resolutioii: 



r 



Resolved, That this House extend its sympathy to the people 
of Ireland and of Candia in all their just efforts to maintain the 
independence of States, to elevate the people, and to extend and 
perpetuate the principles of liberty. 

Mr. Banks. — I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Robinson). 

Mr. Robinson. — I do not intend at this time to make any lengthy 
remarks, and yet I desire to make some observations rather than 
let this resolution pass in silence. I presume I may say, without 
any disrespect to the chairman of the committee, or to the other 
members of the committee, or without referring to anything that . 
may have occuiTed in the committee, that I should have preferred 
a much more decided expression of sympathy than this. But such 
as it is, I trust it will pass as the beginning of good things. Be- 
fore this Congress expires I hope to have the privilege of intro- 
ducing a resolution not only of S3Tnpathy, but acknowled^g 
the belligerent rights and independence of Ireland. I throw this 
out in no sphit of bravado. I believe the independence of Ireland 
will come. I believe that the train of circumstances now in ope- 
ration will bring about that result 

" Truth crughed to earth shall rise again." 

Nor can England take any exception to our interfering in this* 
matter. She has no more business with Ireland than we have- 
She has no right, title or claim whatever in that country except 
that which had its origin Ln fraud and force. She took possession 
of Ireland by force and fraud, and she has made that country 
through seven centuries of oppression a howling wUdemesa. She 
has inflicted wrongs upon that people which no other nation under 
the sun has suffered from another. In conversation with the Chap- 
lain of the House to-day reference was made to the parable of the 
good Samaritan. Sir, I maintain that we have the same authority 
to interfere that the good Samaritan had, when he saw a stranger 
by the wayside, who had fallen among thieves, and lay beaten and 
bruised. There is hardly a government in Europe that does not 
interfere with the affairs of other countries. Emperors and kings 
are all the time making new maps of Europe, and running new 



!3iW^!BPJ?JTWS'^'5Jwa«W?^a"*'ill»(»^ 



91 



FENIAN HEROES AITD MARTTES. 



boundaries of kingdoms and empires. I may be asked ivhat are 
Ireland's cliances of success ? Her chances for success are greater 
tlian auy other people ever had who have achieved their independ- 
ence. They are all rebels in Ireland. There is not to-day an 
honest Irishman upon the face of the earth who is not a rebel 
against British rule in Ireland. 

The sympathies of all the world are with Ireland, while England 
has the sympathy of no human being except its office-holders and 
gnnisons. It is something to have the sympathy of mankind with 
you against your oppressors. Now, we are told that Ireland can- 
not govern herself That statement is' not true ; Ireland can gov-' 
cm herself Irish intellect to-day governs the world ; Irish intel- 
lect is good enough to govern England. Even the poorer sort of 
Irishmen, like the late Duke of Wellington, proves good enougt 
for that business. Irish intellect to-day is uppermost in all the 
transactions of England. She rules in her Parliament ; she directs 
her press ; she couimauds her armies ; she fights her battles. AVhy 
may she not do so herself? Ireland to-day has more disciplined 
men than any nation in the world, men who have learned the use 
of arms, who have smclled gunpowder ; they are all over the world, 
in eveiy cUmc, in every land. Insh valor has bloomed into glory 
upon every battle-field of this and other countries. In these CTnited 
States, upon tliis very floor, may be found Irishmen of the second 
generation, whose deeds I need not recouiit, as they are on every- 
body's lips, and are a part of the history of this country. Look 
tlirough the history of the late war, and see how many of the gen- 
erals, and, above all, of the private soldiers, were Irish by birth or 
blood. 

To-day Ireland can raise the strongest army the world ever saw. 
Ilcr sons have been disciplined in the British army, in the army of 
this countiy, and of every country in the world. She has more 
men now scattered throughout the 'world ready to come to her assist- 
ance than would, under equal advantages, conquer twenty Eng- 
lands if they stood in her way. I know the great difficulty is in 
gaining the first success. But other ccuntrics have achieved their 
independence without the strength tliat is behind this tnovement, 
and some time, in God's own time, Ireland will be able to take that 



<^ 



mSTOEICAL INTEODUCTIOK. 



95 



first step in her forward movement, and then there -will be no hold- 
ing her back. The first step gained everything else is easy. 

If there were no other reason for our interference in behalf of 
Ireland, we have it in the fact that to-day no American citizen is 
safe upon the soil of Great Britain or in Ireland. Instead of the 
name of an American citizen being, as it should be, a badge of 
honor, a guarantee of personal securitj/ it is, in Great Britain to- 
day, treated with more indignity than that of the citizen or subject 
of any other country. Two or three days ago, I received the infor- 
mation from an American citizen, in Liverpool, that, without any 
evidence to justify even a suspicion that he was implicated in any 
crime against the Government of Great Britain, he was arrested 
and dragged to jaU, where, without even the form of trial, he was 
stripped of his citizen's clothes, dressed in the garb of a con'vlct, and 
set to work to scrub the floors of the prison. If this is the treat- 
ment received by American citizens from the present Government 
of Ireland, may we not be pardoned for sympathizing with a move- 
ment which promises better treatment to our citizens under better 
rulers. 

^Ir. Banks. — Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman fixini 
Missouri (Mr. Pile) three minutes. 

Mr. Pile here offered some verbal changes. 

Mr. Banks. — Mr. Speaker, it is the principle of monarchical gov- 
ernments that once beiflg States their continued existence as such 
must be recognized. That is the universal principle on which such 
governments are administered. We claim the same for republican 
governments. Ireland had once a govei'nment of her own. That 
government has been displaced by the English Government If 
they are contending against the English rule, they are contending 
to maintain the principle of the independence of States, and thereby 
I cannot accept the modification proposed by the gentleman. 

Mr. Washbcen, of Wisconsin. — I move the following amend- 
ment : 

Resolved farther, That in S3'mpathizing -with the people of Ire- 
land, we deem it proper to declare that the ijresent Fenian move- 
ment must prove entirely abortive in bringing relief to that coun- 
try, and that any encouragement to that movement by resolution. 



96 



FENIAK HEK0E3 AOT) MAETTE8. 



iinaccnmpanied by force, can only result in mvolving the brave, 
enthusiastic, and patriotic Irishmen in difficulties from which their 
brethren are powerless to extricate them. 

Mr. Banks. — I hope that amendment will not be adopted. I de- 
mand the previous question. 

The previous question was seconded, and the main question or- 
dered. 

ilr. Banks. — I am entitled to an hour to close the debate. In 
reference to the amendment, I have only to say this : it was con- 
sidered in committee, and it was not deemed advisable to present 
it to the House. 

Mr. Wood. — Jlr. Speaker, the amendment is virtually a nullifl-, 
cation of the resolution itself The country well knows as the 
House knows that the present agitation in Ireland looks to the es- 
tablishment of free government in that island, as the result of this 
same Penian movement. We all know it is this Fenian move- 
ment that has effected military organization in Ireland, and that 
every rebel in arms in Ireland, and all the preparatory arrange- 
ments looking to the establishment of an independent govern- 
ment in Ireland, have been promoted, if not originally prompted, 
by this Fenian movement. Itpnay be true that it wUl cost lives, 
aye of hundreds and thousands of men in the prosecution of the 
Fenian movement All revolutions cost blood before they become 
successful. In our own revolutionary war oceans of blood were 
spilled before we were able to establish our independence of the 
mother country. Therefore, when we say by this resolution we 
sympathize with the people of Ireland, in their present struggle, 
we say well and properly, but when we succeed it by saying that 
we are against the Fenian movement, we nullity the resolution re- 
ported from the Committee on Foreign Affairs. I call for the yeas 
and nays on the amendment. 

Mr. Eldmdqe. — I ask the gentleman to yield to me for a mo- 
ment ? 

Jlr BanSs. — Certainly, sir. 

Mr. Eldridge. — I hope the amendment submitted to the resolu- 
tion reported from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, wUl not be 
adopted. I look upon it, as does the gentlemen from New Torb^ 



% 



r 



HISTORICAL IimiODtrcTlON'. 



9T 



as an evasion or nullification of the original resolution. It seems 
to me that it is idle for us to express sympathy with the cause of 
Ireland and at the same time deprecate every measure which the 
people of Ireland take for their alleviation. It is worse than mock- 
eiy to tell them in their degradation and suffering that we sympa- 
thize with them, and yet advise against every effort they make to 
thiow off the oppression which weighs upon them. It is not for 
me to detei-mine at the outset that the effort they are making 
through the Penian organization may not result to their good. Ire- 
land's nationalty is a cause worthy of Irishmen. What shall be 
done to achieve it is for them to judge. Submission and inaction 
■will certainly not save them. It may seem a desperate struggle, 
but who can say that the liberties of that brave and generous peo- 
ple are not worth all their efforts? Who of us can determine 
what may or may not be accomplished ? If their cause be just, 
and our sympathies with them, in the name of God, in the name 
of libertj', let us not disparage any effort or discourage any enter- 
prise which to them may betoken success. Any blow which the 
oppressed may aim at the oppressor to regain his rights and liberty 
Las my heart's best prayer for its success. 

The j'eas and nays were ordered. , 

The question was taken, and it was decided in the negative- 
yeas 10, nays 102; not voting, 52.* 

• The following is the vote : 

Teas— MesErs. Blair, Broomall, Famsworth, Finney, Morrell, NoeD, Peters, 
Cadwalader C. Washburn, Thomas U'illiams, and Windom— 10. 

Nays— Messrs. Allison, Anderson, Archer, Delos R. Ashley, Balier, Baldwin, 
Banks, Barnes, Benton, Bingham, Boutwell, Boyor, Brooks, Buckland, Butler. 
Cake, Chanler, Churchill, Sidney Clarke, Cobum, Cook. Cornell, Cnllom, Denl- 
eon, Donnelly, Drigjs, Eckley, Ela, Eldridge, Ferriss, Ferry, Fields, Getz, 
Glosshrenner, Gravely, Griswold, Haigbt, Hamilton, Hill, Holman, Hooper, 
Hopkins, Asahel W. Hubbard, Chester D. Hubbard, Hulburd. Humphrey, Hun- 
ter, Ingersoll, Jndd, Kerr, Ketcham, Kitchen, Koontz, Laflin, William Law- 
rence, Lincoln, Loan, Logan, Mnllorj', Marshall, Marrtn, McCarthy, McClnrg, 
Mercur, Miller, Moore, Morrisscy, JInngen, Myers, Ne\vcomb,Niblack, O'NcU, 
Orth, Perham, Pile, Plants, Polsley, -Kobertson, Robinson, Ross, Schencfc, 
Sclye, Shanks, Silgrcaves, Smith. Stewart, Taber, Taffe, Taylor, Trowbridge, 
Twitchell, Upson, Tan Anken, Burt Van Horn, Robert T. Van Horn, Van 
Trump, Ward, Henry D. Washburn, John T. Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson, Wood 
and Woodbridge— 102. 



OS 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETTEa. 



So the amendment was rejected. 

The question recarred on agreemg to the resolution, and it was 
adopted. 

As tliese pages are going tlirougli the press some 
documents of peculiar interest reach us ; one is a de- 
hate in the House of Commons on the state of Ire- 
land ; another is a speech made by John Bright, in 
Bh-minghara, and a third is the Queen's speech, read 
bj commission, on the proroguing of the Imperial Par- 
liament on the 21st of August, Every one read the 
Queen's speech which came hy cable. Very few read 
the other documents which came by mail. As the 
two latter very flatly and authoritatively contradict 
the former, and moreover, tlirow great illumination 
on the speech from the throne, I shall have to place 
them in juxtaposition ,for the benefit of American 
readers especially for Americans who are in the dark 
on the subject of Ireland, and who chiefly seek to be 
enlightened from such sources as repubhcations from 
the " leading English journal." In announcing that 
" the treasonable conspiracy in Ireland has proved fa- 
tile," the Queen compliments the valor of the troops, 
the activity of the poUce, and " the general loyalty of 
tlie people." The general loyalty of the Irish people 
is a sentiment of similar import to the announcement 
so constantly made that " Ireland is tranquil," or " im- 
proving," or " happy and contented." 

The debate on the L'ish question elicited a variety 



BISTOEICAL INTEODrcnON'. 



99 



of opinions and facts discussing* the land, the edu- 
cational, and the church questions as relating to L-e- 
land. None of the speeches were intended to present 
a Fenian aspect, but all more or less were based upon 
the facts of which Fenianism is the honest and fear- 
less exponent. The best speech of the occasion was 
made by Mr. Monsell, an Irish landlord and a loyalist; 
but one who, upon the word of Father Lavelle, is " a 
deep thinker, a man of great uniform action and 
princely fortune." His position adds immeasurably 
to the force of his words, which, coming from any 
honest man, irrefutable as they are, should meet the 
attention of every American thinker and pubhcist : 



"Never in the memory of any living man was there such deep- 
rooted disaffeclion as tliere was now ^[hear, hear). Never were the 
minds of the people so alienated from the Government under which 
they lived (hear, hear). They were indifferent to the action of 
Parliament. Theb eyes were turned not to Westminster, but to 
Washington. That disaffection prevaUs among the lower classes 
no one would deny, but it goes up much higher m the social scale. 
I do not refer to actual Fenianism, but to that feeUng of actual hos- 
tility to Great Britain which is from day to day becoming more in- 
tense. I have made inquiries on that subject which satisfy me that 
this pervades the farming classes. It pervades the vast majority of 
tliose who pay less than £100 a year rent. Jlany of the younger 
members of the families of even larger farmers share it. The shop- 
tecpcre in the smaller towns, and many of the smellier shopkeepers 
m large towns, are in ardent sympathy with it. A71iat is the news- 
paper that is waited for with the greatest interest ? The Irishman, 
whjch IS full of unmitigated treason. If you want to get a frame for 
a picture, you find the framers and gilders over"whelmed with de- 



. 'j--)^'aifofaifaaftviiifi-iiy 



100 



VV.'SIXS HEROES A^T) ltAETTK3. 



mands for frames for General Bourke's portrait. You see placards 
in the streets of the large Irish towns advertising ' Voices from the 
Dock,' in other words, pamphlets containing speeches delivered by 
. the Fenian prisoners at their trials. Only the other day, at Dungar- 
van, many of the respectable people showed the direction of their 
sympathies, by providing champagne and every delicacy of the sea- 
son for some American Fenians arrested there. At Waterfoi-d, not 
long ago, "the mass of the people in one part of the tovrn hunied out 
at short notice, to rescue some Fenian prisoners who were marching 
through the town (hear, hear). These were the sort of things , 
■which were taking place every day in the South of Ireland, and 
which demanded the most serious consideration of this house and 
of the Government. Has any cabinet ever devoted to that consid- 
. eration one-tenth part of the time it bestowed upon the compound 
Louse-holder ? Is any verification of the truth of my description 
asked for ? Look across the ocean — 

* Ccfilum non animam mutant qui 
Trans mare currnnt.' 

Does not every Irishman who lands in America at once become a 
Fenian ? Does the voyage change his opinions ? Is it not manifest 
that there he only^ professes openly the political creed he may 
have concealed at home. Here, then, is the result of six hundred 
years connection between England and Ii'eland — military occupa- 
tion — suspended liberties — universal discontent, and a new Irish 
nation on the other side of the Atlantic, recast in the mould of de- 
mocracy, and watching for an opportunity to strike a blow at the 
very heart of this empire. Now, let me ask what is the cause of 
this disastrous combination ? Is it destiny ! Is it a waywai-d fate ? 
Must we fold our hands in despair? Arc we powerless in this 
emergency ? Is it impossible for two distinct races, such as the 
English and the Irish, to be cordially united in feeling ? Look at 
Alsace (liear, hear, hear). There you have a population of German 
race — speaking the German language, separated only by a river 
from the rest of the German race ; and yet the inhabitants of Al- 
sace are as thoi'oughly French in feeling as the inhabitants of Tou- 
raine (hear, hear), and woe to the German who endeavored to tam- 
per with their allegiance. Well, then, if race is not the obstacle 



HISTORICAl, mTEODUCTIOH'. 



101 



to concord, is it religion ? Look at Silesia— in 1742, SUesia was 
taken from Austria and annexed to Prussia. From that day to 
this, Catholic Silesia has expressed by word and deed nothing bat 
thankfulness for the transfer it underwent, and, as was shown in 
the war last year, no part of the Prussian dominions contains a 
population more devoted to the house of Hohenzollem than the 
Silcsians are (hear, hear). Look 'again at Canada— look at the 
Canadians of French origm. All history teaches the same lesson, 
justice and equality have a binding force which nothing can destroy. 
But, sir, let me ask is it not the most natural couree to go to the 
Irish people themselves, and find out fiom them what is the cause 
of their disaffection ? (hear, hear). Tou will find that they all wiU 
give the same reason. I am going to repeat that my honorable 
friends who come from Ireland have heard nsque ad nauseam. ■ 
The people of Ireland say that they are not governed according to 
their own wishes or feelings or requu-ements, but according to the 
wislies or prejudices of the people of England (hear, hear). They 
say they have no eflectual control over their Government, which 
Is controlled by England, and that measures admittedly just and 
suited to Ireland, are abandoned because the Government of the 
day is obliged to conform its measures, even those that regard Ire- 
land alone, to the views, oflen ignorant, and to the narrowest 
prejudices of the people of Great Britain (cheers). I do not say 
whether this view is right or wrong; but I can vouch for its being 
the opinion, nay the conviction, not only of the peasantry but of 
the middle and farming classes in the greater part of Ireland (no, 
no). I do not know who says ' No, no.' It must be some one 
not very well acquainted with Ireland. I see now who it is. It is 
the right honorable gentleman the Attorney-General for Ireland, 
The other day that learned gentleman said that the people of Ire- 
land were not at aU discontented (hear, hear). No authority caa 
be attached to the opinion of a gentleman who made such a state- 
ment (hear, hear). I think it quite unnecessary, therefore, to re- 
fute his present contradiction (cheers). What the people of Ii-eland, 
then, aslc, is to be governed according to their own requirements, 
just as the English and Scotch are according to the requirements of 
their respecUve countries (hear, hear). And they point to the re- 



4» 



-^■^!??^^^WB^'Ml«l*iw,f« 



102 



FEKIA:sr UEK0E9 AND MAHTTES. 



marknWe instances in confirmation of the view that Irish interests 
arc sacrificed to English opinion. They take the laud question, an 
old grievance ; for more than two hundred years ago Sir John 
Davies said, ' No care is taken of the inferior people. Tenants 
at will, by reason of the uncertainty of their estates, did utterly neg- 
lect to improve the land.' They say that Parliament recognized 
this grievance twenty-two years ago— that it dthberately admitted 
that the Irish law of landlord and tenant was not adapted to the 
wants of that country (hear, hear), and yet, in spite of eloquent 
speeches and the exertions of eminent statesmen, nothing had been 
done to redress the grievance (cheers). Over forty bills have been 
introduced— not one that touches the admitted grievance has been 
passed (hear, hear). They ask— 'not, I thinlc, unnaturally— would 
an English or a Scotch grievance have been so dealt with ^eai^ 
hear) ?° Next they turn to the question of the Irish Church (cheers). 
For a longer period even than twenty-two years, ever since 1834, 
the most eminent oratoi-s and statesmen have declared that no griev- 
ance like it exists or ever has existed in the worid (hear, hear). 
Nowhere else, as Macanlay, Brougham, Lord Grey, C. BuUer, a 
whole army of distinguished men have proclaimed, are the funds 
destmed for the spirhual wants of a whole people appropriated to 
the wants of a small minority (cheers) ? But eloquence, and reason, 
and authority, and logic, have been powerless against prejudice — 
oratoi-s and statesmen have passed away, and the Irish Church re- 
mains. Would, the Irish people demands, such an anomaly have 
been tolerated in England or in Scotland (cheei-s) ? Do you won- 
der, then, that the Irish people complain that they are governed 
according to the feelings and prejudices of the people of England, 
rather than according to their own requirements (cheers) ? Do 
you v.'onder that they resent the deprivation of that which Guizot, 
in his last volume, declares to be the end of representative govern- 
ment, viz. : that a people should have a constant direction and 
effectual control in their own government; that they should be 
ruled, not according to the abstract principles of statesmen who do 
not know their condition, but according to the peculjar wants gen- 
erated by their own speci;d circumstances. If you mean to satisfy 
them, then, you must give them what they reasonably and justly 



HISTOEICAL INTEODUCTIOH. 



103 



ask for, not what those at a distance think suitable for them (cheers). 
Let them be the judges in their own concerns. It is, believe me, 
perfectly idle to attempt to change the condition — the perilous and 
menacmg condition of Ireland — unless you strive to gain the hearts 
of the Irish people (cheers). These hearts you can never gain un- 
less you remove the impression that English policy, not justice, rule 
your deliberations (cheers). No j^vancement in national pros- 
perity — no improvement in the material condition of the people 
will do anything so long as that policy of injustice rankles in the 
minds of the people (cheers). Indeed, the more educated they be- 
come, the more they are able to compare their lot with that of the 
inhabitants of other countries, the more acutely they must feel their 
own wrongs." 



Mr. Monsell was led into this bold picture of the 
state of Ireland, by a desire to make the Government 
hold out some inducement for those not Fenians to be- 
come loyal. " Make those," said he, imploring the 
Ministers, " that are Twt Fenians loyal, and you need 
not trouble your heads about the Fenians." "What an 
admission by an honest landlord who does not advise 
coercion but concession ; not the rule of rage, but re- 
dress. The Fenians are dis-\oja\ : Mr. Monsell says 
the mass of people not Fenians are not loyal; in 
other words the vast majority of the people in Ireland, 
Fenians or not Fenians, are opposed from their heart 
of hearts to the English Government. How does this 
estimate of the people agree with the Queen's an- 
nouncement of the general loyalty of " her L-ish sub- 
jects." Assm-edly the self-delusive congratulation in 



^ 



/■% 



104 



FESUJf HEROES A^TD MAETTES. 



tlie Queen's speecli cannot stand 'before the powerful 
truths in Mr. Monsell's statement. 

" Ireland tranquil ;" the "conspiracy futile;" the 
people " loyal I" Hear how John Bright, at Birming- 
ham, addressing the majesty of the people contra- 
dicts the " Majesty of England," on Ireland and the 
L-ish : 

"Will yon let me tell you that Ireland was once an independent 
kingdom — that within the life-time of many here it had an inde- 
pendent Parliament — that at this moment, miited with Great 
Britain, it requires about forty thousand men — soldiers and 
military police — to keep the country quiet, and to prevent in- 
surrection, and, it may be, revolution? (Cries of shame.)" 

Impossible ! forty thousand troops to keep the tran- 
quil, loyal Irish quiet. If they are so quiet with foi-ty 
thousand soldiers amongst them what would such loyal 
people he without them. It is plain that her Majes- 
ty's idea of loyalty and Mr. Bright's are not exactly 
the same. The latter continues : 



" What right have you to hold in subjection, by forty thousand 
troops, paid out of your taxes, a people — (loud applause) — who 
dislike your government, and who believe that you have not dona 
them justice ? (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I hear a talk — it is old 
phraseology — it was common here about seventy or eighty years 
ago — about our sacred institutions in Church and State (derisive 
laughter). Docs any man tell me that the Christian religion, or 
that the Protestant portion of the professors of that religion, have 
any interest in the maintenance of a Protestant Church, compris- 
ing but a handful of the population, in the midst of a great Cath- 
olic nation ? — (loud cries of no) — and a Protestant Church, compris- 



HISTOEICAL, mXEODtrcTION. 



105 



ing not more than one-eighth or one-ninth of the population, ab'- 
sorbing the whole ecclesiastical property of the whole kingdom. 
(Cries of shame.) I have discussed this matter before in this hall, 
(hear, hear). I have asked you if you were to endeavor to set up 
such an abomination north of the Tweed, what would happen to 
Scotland? TnnquUity? Constant union with England ? No; 
but exactly what you have in Irel^d, o^y fought out by a people 
mfinitely more united than are the people of Ireland. And if any- 
body were to attempt to set up in England what England has set. 
up in Ireland, England would be in a condition of periietuaZ 
anarchy and constant revolt, (hear, hear)." 



, Mr. Bright's idea of a tranquil nation differs as much 
from that in the Queen's speech, as their estimates 
of what makes a loyal man. Moreover, the English. 
Eeform t)rator shows why there ought Twt to le tran- 
quility quite as forcibly as the Irish landlord shows 
there is none. American journalists should note these 
facts and he prepared to expect a suspension of the^^a- 
leas Corjms Act, as an echo to Irish "tranquility;" 
an attack on a harracke to be hidden behind every of- , 
ficial glorification of " content" in " poor Ireland," and 
to he morally certain that the jails are overflowing 
when Ireland is complimented on her " loyalty." 

Wliile the Queen's speech was being read, and the 
British Parliament prorogued in London, on the 21st' 
of August, the Sixth National Congress of the Fenian 
Brotherhood was assemhling in New York. "Delegates 
representing the States of Maine, Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut, Ehode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
5* 



106 



^E^'IAl; heroes Am> maettes. 



Oliio, Maryland, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Vir- 
ginia, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, "Washington, D. C, 
l^ew York City and Disti-ict of Manhattan, Long 
Island, and Counties and Towns of the State of New 
York' and Canada, took their seats. 

The administration of the aifau-s of the Brotherhood 
since the last Congress was submitted and approved. 
The great object of the Assembly was to consult on 
some means of reconstruction to meet the altered as- 
pect of circumstances in Ireland. To this end' the 
Constitution was slightly amended, and Mr. John 
Savage elected Chief Executive. On the next day, 
the 25th, Mr. Savage attended the Congress. The 
following is from the official report : 



Sir. Savage briefly addressed the Convention. After explaining 
■why he was unable to accept the invitation of the Convention, and 
be present at its sittings (in consequence of severe illness which 
scarcely permitted his presence for a brief period to-day), Mr. Sav- 
age thanked the Convention for the high honor it had paid him in 
unanimously electing him to the pffice of Chief Executive of the 
Fenian Brotherhood, and said : 

"Many of you are aware that I have for months persistently re- 
fused to allow my name to be brought forward in this connection. 
As far back as the last Congress or Convention, I declined the 
proposition. If I consulted my own desire, I would decline it now. 
My habits are at variance with those of what is called an ' Irish 
jjolitician,' a character with which I have no desire to be confoimd- 
ed. My habits are those of a student and literary man ; and I have 
))een induced to accept this office on the urgent representation of 
good men, personally and by letter — men who, speaking for locali- 
lies thousands of miles apart, have expressed the same request. 



SISTOEICAL INTEODUCTION. 



107 



based upon the same hope. They have been pleased to say that 
possibly through me a union of discordant parties might be effect- 
ed, and placed the matter in such a light as compelled me to this 
course as a duty." 

JLr. Savage spoke of the deep love of country which lay in the 
centre of every Irishman's heart, and which needed onlyjnutual 
respect among themselves, and a prefer incentive to be made an 
effective power. Without a knowledge of details, the movements 
of the year were deemed failures. The world judges causes by re- 
sults—measures the character of attempts by their issues, but time, 
to use a journalistic simile, was a careful proof-reader, a sedulous 
emendator, and revised the erroneous impressions left by contempo- 
raneous judgments, often proving— what it will again prove— that 
failures are but the openings to success. 

Mr. Savage excused himself on account of the state of his health, 
from speaking at length, but, in conclusion said he would invoke 
Ahniglity God— the God of the sorrowful and oppressed, as well as 
the G°od of the free, to Ulumine his brain with the fire of wisdom, 
and cleanse his heart with the fire of truth, so that thus purified and 
strengthened, he might be gifted with honesty, sagacity and cour- 
age. To unite the scattered elements of the race, and feiTently labor 
to guide them to a beneficial result 

Such is, in substance, an historical epitome of Irish 
wrongs for centuries ; and of the efforts made, espe- 
cially within the last three-quarters of a century, and 
even unto this date, by Irishmen, at home and abroad, 

to establish Irish rights in Ireland- 

J.S. 



FoEDHAM, 26th August, 1867. 






iii?'rn!fli»tti#i;t%-rfiiiitr>L 



^ ,, i ,j, ,a ,;h ii.^'j l --j-i.^^i ^ '=^^-^'-'>'^''^--~'-"'--'-^"'^^ 



THE ANCIKNT FENIAKS. 



109 



THE ANCIENT ?ENIANS. 

The Fenians— Who Were They— Their Dntles, Manners and Castoma— The 
Oeslanic Society. 

SixcE the Fenian Brotlierhood liave become famous, 
a power on the earth, and a terror to English miniB- 
ters and excited Parliamentarians, there have been 
many speculations as to the origin, meaning and ap- 
propriateness of the designation — Fenian. Some of 
these conjectures were very far-fetched, others ridicu- 
lous, and none correct. That tracing the name of the 
Brotherhood to the Phoenicians who came to Ireland 
in the remote ages, was the only one approaching ra- 
tionality. 

The era of the Fiann {Feean), that is the Fenian 
period, was one the most romantic and glorious in 
the records of ancient Ireland, and an account of the 
Fenian Brotherhood who then made it so, collated 
from the most reliable authox-ities at hand, will doubt- 
less be interesting in itself, as well as furnishing the 
origin of the designation now so widely recognized as 
synonymous with Irish liberty.* 

• Ths nnthorities freely nscd in the compilation of this chapter, are Dr. John 
O'Doiiovnn'a Tranflalion of the Annals iif the Four Masle.ru. 7 vols; Owen 
Comiollan's Trauslation of these Annals, with annotations, by Philip MacDer- 
ino!t,M. D., 1 vol.,4to; Moore's Ireland; O'Mahony's Translation of Keating, 
K. T., i&X, and the various references made by all. 



««*»*«Mto;^;^j^s£<.„ 



110 



FEXLiN HEE0E3 A^'D ItAETTES. 



Tlie Fenians,- called by the Irlsli writers Fiannd 
Eir'wnn (the Fenians of Ireland), are mentioned in the 
Four Mastei's, imder the title of Fene, or Feine, which 
according to Doctor O'Conor, signifies the Phoeni- 
cians of Ireland, and they were probably called so, 
says McDermott, from the tradition that the Phoeni- 
cians came to Ireland in the early ages. Their mode 
of life would seem to give some warrant to the conjec- 
ture that the name was as likely to come from Fiad- 
hach {Feeagh), a hunt, and to mean an order of hunt- 
ers. Thus the German Light Cavahy Corps, Jagers, 
means hunters. The Fenians seem to have done n«th- 
ing but hunt and fight.* 

The most widely accepted explanation of the name 
is that the Fianna Eirionn, were called after Finn 
MacCumhal their great leader. This Finn is the. 
hero of MacPherson's Ossian, and is there called Fin- 
gal. " It has been the fate of this popular hero," 
says Moore, " after a long course of traditional renown 
in liis country, where his name stiU lives, not only *in 
legends and songs, but yet in the most indeUble 
scenery connected with his memory, to have been all 
at once transferred, by adoption, to another country 
(Scotland), and start under a new but false shape, in a, 
fresh career of fame." 

Dr. O'Donovan says, " This celebrated wai'rior, who 
had two grand residences in Leinster, one at Almhaim, 
now the hill of Allen, and the other at Magli File, 
now Moyelly, in the King's County, was son-in-law of 
King Cormac, and General of his standing army, 



I 



THE ANCIENT FENIANS. 



Ill 



which, as Pinkerton remarks, seems to have been in 
imitation of the Eoman Legion. The words of this 
critical writer are worth quoting here : ' He seems, 
says he, ' to have been a man of great talents for the 
age, and of celebrity in anns. His foi'mation of a 
regular standing army, trained to war, in which all the 
Irish accounts agree, seems to have a rude imitation of 
the Eoman Legion in Britain. The idea, though sim- 
ple enough, shows prudence ; for such a force alone 
could have coped with the Eomans had they invaded 
Ii'eland. But this machine, which surprised a rude 
age, and seems the basis of all Finn's fame, like some 
other great schemes, only lived with its author, and 
expired soon after him.' "* Finn, however, was not 
the founder, but the great disciplinarian and most re- 
nowned leader of the body. 

The traditional repute of Finn and his Fenians was 
undoubtedly great, for, as O'Donovan suggests, their 
achievements were handed down, vividly remember- 
ed, and enthusiastically recounted, while their imi- 
tators, the Kerns and GaUoglasses of later ages, are 
nearly forgotten, 

The Fenians were the standing military force, the 
national militia, instituted in the early ages long be- 
fore the Christian era, but brought to the greatest 
perfection in the reign of the celebrated Cormac, Mon- 
arch of Ireland, in the third centm-y. They were in 
regular and constant pay, and their duty similar to that 
of any modern standing army. They had to defend 
the country against foreign or domestic enemies, to 



• See 0'Mahoiif'E£eatisg, nates to prefaces 



• Pinkerton'B Inquiry into the History oj Scotland, 



112 



FESIAN HEEOES AOT) MAETYES. 



support the ri-hts and Buccession of the chief monarch, • 
and to he ready at the shortest notice, to meet any sur- 
prise or state emergency. They guarded the sea coasts, 
havinc strict eye upon the creeks and havens of the 
island, lest any pirates should be lurking there to prey 
upon the inhabitants, and plunder the country, ihey 
were to support the crown, defend the country, and 
secure the liberty and property of the people 

In the winter time, that is from Samham (All-Hal- 
low-tide) to Beltani, (May) these troops were quartered 
upon the people, and the rest of the year they lived 
aut of doors, being permitted to hunt and fish and pro- 
vide for themselves. They received pay during the 
winter season, and for wages during the hunting season, 
the skins of the animals they caught, which brought a 
good price. By this admirable arrangement the troops 
were always kept in a state of athletic activity, and 
was a self-sustaining establishment during the greater 
part of the year. The hunting and fishing was mot 
permitted to interfere with other duties, as they were 
enforced to perform their military exercises, and to be 
under discipline. The ofiicers were enjoined not to 
oppress, but to defend the inhabitants from the in- 
roads of thieves and robbers, and to promote the peace 
and happiness of the people. It was their duty to 
QueU all riots and insurrections, to raise fines, secure 
forfeited estates for the use of the monarch, enquire 
into and suppress at the beginning all seditions, and 
to appear in arms whenever the State required. 

The account of the habits of the Fenians "durmg the 
hunting season, as weU as the quaUfications necessary 



GERTRUDE KISTLEK 

MEMORIAL LIBRARY 
ROStMONT, PA. 

THE AlTCrENT FENIANS. 



113 



to gain admittance into so distinguished a body, are 
mainly condensed or adopted fi-om Keating. 

The method of dressing their meat was very partic- 
ular : when they had success in hunting, it was their 
custom in the forenoon t(^6end their attendants, with 
what they had killed, to a proper place, where there 
^ was plenty of wood and water. There they kindled 

great fires, into which they threw a number of large 
stones, where they remained until they were red hot. 
Then they applied themselves to dig two great pits in 
the earth, into one of which, upon the bottom, they 
used to lay some of these hot stones as a pavemen^ 
upon which they would place the raw flesh, bound up 
liard in green sedge or bull-rushes; over these bundles 
was fixed another layer of hot stones, then a quantity 
of flesh, and this method was observed until the pit was 
full. In this manner the meat was stewed till it was • 
fit to eat, and then they uncovered it ; and, when the 
hole was emptied, they began their meal. This Irish 
militia, it must be observed, never eat but once in 
twent3'-four hours, and their meal-time was always in 
the evening. When they had a mind to alter their 
diet, instead of stewing their meat, as described, they 
would roast it before these fires, and make it palatable 
. and wholesome. 

As an undisputed evidence of these fires, the marks 
of them continue deep in the earth, in many places of 
the island, to this day; for they were very large, and 
burned exceeding fierce, and the impression they left 
is now to be met with many feet deep in the ground- 
"WTien any husbandman in Ireland turns up with hia 






-.fj;ft^f,ff.,^.,-ai;.:y^--. 



- ■ r ■■rilfiQiiirtKfawtfiaffaii'i-i^Tf- ■ 



114 



FENIAN HEE0E3 ASD 5tAETTE8. 



plough any black burnt earth, he immediately knows 
the occasion of it ; and the soil of that color is known, 
witli great propriety, by the name of Fulacht Fian, the 
cooking places or kitchens of the Fenians, to this time. 
When the Irish militia came to these fires to dres3 
their meat, before they went to eat they would strip 
themselves to their shirts, which they modestly tied 
about their middles, and go into the other pit dug in 
the ground, which was very large and filled with water. 
Here they would wash their heads and necks, and other 
parts of their bodies, till they had cleansed themselves 
Trom the sweat and dust occasioned by their liuntip4.j 
and this custom was very wholesome and refreshing, 
for they would rub their hmbs and their joints, till they 
had forgot all their fatigue, and became as sprightly 
and active as when they began then- sport in the morn- 
ing : when they were perfectly clean, they would put 
on their clothes, and begin their meal. 

After they had eaten they would apply themselves 
to build huts and tents, where they made their beds, 
and designed to repose themselves for the following 
night. These beds were composed and laid out with 
great exactness. They cut down branches of trees, 
which they placed next the ground ; upon these was 
laid a quantity of dry moss, and upon the top of all 
was strewed a bundle of green rushes, which made a 
"very commodious lodging. These beds, in the ancient 
manuscripts, are called Tri cuilceadha na feine ; which, 
in Englisli, signifies the three beddings of the Fenians. 

The constant number of these standing forces, that 
were quartered upon the kingdom of Ireland, was thi'e6 



I 



THE Al^CIENT FI»a4U8, 



115 



battalions, each battalion consisting of 3,000 able men. 
Eut this was the establishment only in time of peace, 
when there were no disturbances at home, or fear of 
any invasions from abroad. "When the force was com- 
plete, it consisted of seven Catha, that is, battalions or 
legions, making, according to O'Halloran and other 
historians, 21,000 men for each of the five provinces ; 
or about 100,000 in time of war, for the whole country, 

Finn, the commander-in-chief of the Irish militia, 
had several inferior ofiicers, who, in their degi-ees, ex- 
ercised an authority under him, by his commission.^. 
Every battalion or legion was commanded by a colonel ; 
every hundred men were under the conduct of a cap- 
tain ; an officer, in the nature of a lieutenant, had fifty 
under him ; and a sergeant, resembling the Decurio of 
the Romans, was set over five-and-twenty ; but when 
a hundi-ed of these militia were drawn out, by ten in a 
rank, there was an officer appointed from that ten over 
the other nine. 

Every soldier that was received into the militia of 
Ireland by Finn, was obliged, before he was enrolled, 
to subscribe to the following articles : the first, that, 
when he is disposed to marry, he would not follow the 
mercenary custom of insisting upon a portion with a 
wife, but, without regard to her fortune, he should 
choose a woman for her virtue, her courtesy, and good 
manners. The second, that he would never ofiPer vio- 
lence to a woman. The tliird, that he would be char- 
itable and relieve the poor, who desired meat or drink, 
as far as his abilities would permit. The fourth, that 
he would not turn his back, or refuse to fight with 



:^-...^^«f^.|| ffl .j ^v ^ .j.aK^,..»,.^a^^ 



116 



FEXIAN npEOES AlTD MAETTES. 



THE ANCIENT FENIANS. 



117 



nine men of any other nation tliat set upon Mm, and 
offered to fight with him. 

It must not be supposed that every person who was 
willing to be enlisted in the militia of Ireland, would 
be accepted ; for Finn was very strict in his inquiry, 
and observed these rules in filling up the number of 
his troops, which were exactly followed by his succes- 
sors in command, when they had occasion to recruit 
then- forces. 

He ordained, therefore, that no, person should be en- 
listed or received into the service, in the congregation 
or assembly of Uisneach, or in the celebrated faipof 
Tailtean,. or at Feis Teamrach, unless his father and 
mothei', and all the relatives of his family, would stipu-. 
late and give proper security, that not one of them 
should attempt to revenge his death upon the person 
that slew him, but to leave the affair of his death 
wholly in the hands of his fellow-soldiers, who would 
take care to do him justice as the case required; and 
it was ordained, likewise, that the relations of a soldier 
of this militia should not receive any damage or re- 
proach for any misbehavior committed by him. 

The second qualification for admittance into these 
standing forces was, that no one should be received, 
unless he had a poetical genius, and could compose 
verses, and was well acquainted with the twelve books 
of poetry. 

The third condition was, that he should be a perfect 
master of his weapons, and able to defend himself 
against all attacks ; and to prove his dexterity in the 
management of his arms, he was placed in a plain field. 



T 



^ 



encompassed with green sedge, that reached above his 
knee ; he was to have a target by him, and a hazel 
stake in his hand of the length of a man's arm. Then 
nine experienced soldiers of the militia were drawn 
out, and appointed to stand at the distance of nine 
ridges of land fi-om him, Vtud to throw aU their jave- 
lins at him at once ; if he had the skill, with his target 
and his stake, to defend himself, and come off unhurt, 
he was admitted into the service ; but if he had the mis- 
fortune to be wounded by one of those javelins, he was 
rejected as unqualified, and turned off with reproach. 
This trial was to make sure that the claimant for ad- 
mission was competent to fill the post of leader of a 
file of nine men, in which position he was expected to 
ward off from his men, the javelins of an equal file of 
attacking: enemies. 

A fourth qualification was, that he should run well, 
and in his flight defend himself from his enemy ; and 
to make a trial of his activity he had his hair plaited, 
and was obliged to run through a wood, with all the 
militia.pursuinghim, and was allowed but the breadth 
of a tree before the rest at the setting out ; if he was 
overtaken in the chase, or received a wound before he 
had ran through the wood, he was refused as too slug- 
gish and unskilful to fight with honor among those 
valiant troops. 

It was required, in the fifth place, that whoever was 
a candidate for admission into the militia, should have 
a strong arm, and hold his weapon steady ; and if it 
was observed that his hands shook, he was rejected. 



''UmM)J!SWit"?l*^HI 



118 



^■^'^gjiif.fe 



FENIAN HEEOES AND MAETTES. 



Tlie sixth requisite was, that when he ran through 
a wood his hair should continue tied up, during the 
chase ; if it fell loose, he could not be received. 
^ The seventh qualification was, to be so swift and 
light of foot as not to break a withered branch by 
touching upon it. 

The eighth condition was, that nond' should have the 
honor of being enrolled among the Irish militia, that 
was not so active as to leap over a tree as high as his 
forehead ; or could noi, by the agility of his body, stoop 
easily under a tree that was as low as his knee.- 

The ninth condition required was, that he could, 
without stopping or lessening his speed, draw a thoru 
out of his foot. 

The tenth and last qualification was, to take an oath 
of allegiance to be true and faithful ^o the command- 
ing officer of the army. These were the tei-ms requir- 
ed for admission among these brave troops ; which, so 
long as they were exactly insisted upon, the militia of 
Ireland were an invincible defence to their country, 
and a terror to rebels at home and enemies abroad. 

The great Finn was slain by the cast of a javelin or 
the shot of an arrow, at a place called Ath Brea, on 
the river Boyne, A. D. 283. After his death, the Fe- 
nians were commanded by his son Ossian, (pronounced 
Osheen,) the Celtic Homer, who was a famous warrior 
as well as a bard. At the great battle of Gaura, the 
Fenian forces, numbering twenty thousand, eighteen 
thousand of whom fell, were commanded by Ossian's 
son Osgar, who was also killed. " The tremendous 
battle of Gaura is considered to have led to tlie subse- 



O 



THE ANCIKNT FENIANS. 



119 



quent fall of the Irish monarchy, for, after the destruc- 
tion of the Fenian forces, the Irish kings never were 
able to muster a national army equal in valor and dis- 
cipline to those heroes, either to cope with foreign foes, 
or to reduce to subjectitn the rebellious provincial 
kings and princes ; hence the monarchy became weak 
and disorganized, and the ruling powers were unable 
to maintain their authority, or make a sufficient stand 
against the Danish and Anglo-Norman invaders of 
after times."* 

The Ossianic Poems are replete with descriptions 
of the gi-eatness, magnificence and gloiy of Finn, and) 
the prowess of the Fenians. One of the poems gives a 
glimpse of the great fortress on the hill of Allen, in Kil- 
dare, the chief residence of the Fen'an chief, and the 
troops under his immediate eye. It is thus versified : 

When I supp'd in the halls of Finn, 
At ev'iy banquet there, Tve seen 
A thousand costly goblets brimming, 
Then- edges wreathed with golden rimming; 

Twelve habitations rose in state, 

Fill'd with the Fenian legions great 

In the son of the daughter of Teige's command. 

At fair Almhuin of the Fenian band. 

Twelve great fires forever flamed. 
In each of the princely dwellings named, 
And round, to be but in death sund'red. 
Were Fenian heroes by the hundredl 

The Ossianic Society's publications are throwing 
great light and innumerable picturesque illustrations 

• Annota, ConneUan'e and MacDermotrs Four Hasten, 



120 



FENIAN HEROKS AND MAKTYRB. 



on the customs and habits, as well as the political his- 
tory of what is particularly distinguiBhcd as the Fe- 
nian era of Ireland. This society numbers among its 
members very distinguished, as well as some vei"y loyal 
gentlemen ; and it is not a little remarkable, that while 
they are sedulously employed in disentombing from 
the dust of ages, the history, literature, bravery and 
gallantry of the elder Fenian period; the Government 
are not less busily employed in consigning to the death 
of dungeons, and the obscurity of penal servitude, those 
who aspired to l)ring a new soul into Ireland, or revi've 
the spirit of the old national guard, in the creation of 
the Fenian Brotherhood. Thd'Ossianic Society ought 
to be encouraged in their cflbrts to illuminate tlio Fe- 
nian history of Ireland. Macphers^n, in liis manufac- 
tured Ossian, leads us to look upon Finn as a myth. 
The history brought to pul)lic view by the Ossianic So- 
ciety, show him to have been what he was, a great pa- 
triot-general, of remarkable foresight, military genius, 
and heroism. There is no greater inspiration to hero- 
ism than the example aflPorded by the deeds of heroes. 
, In picture, poem and story, they should be kept before 
the eye and heart of the people, to excite the imagina- 
tion to noble actions, and to strengthen the will to 
perform them. 



■* W-.'.ii^^\--1»r,^'i,i.w.vT«afi^';AjaL.-..t.c-^^t^j.t>;^^,.„:^ 



COLONEL THOMAS 'FRANCIS BODEKB. 121 



r 



^, 



COLONEL THOMAS FRANCIS BOURKE, 

^ Arl'?n.^°"^;r^°7'r'"' °^ ^"'^'='' ^"""y ^ America and Canada- 
War-T, ,1 P rt^'^ '' P"^'"«-^<"»« '"- I'<^nlan Brotherhood after the 
ZT tl ^ CongTcs-Saccess as OrganiEer for Manhattan Distri.*- 
m^!^^^^ T'.T,',"^"'^''"'^-^'^'^^^^'' ""= TlpperaryDietrlcfr-Th« 
tl^^~^TVl ^' '^""y""'^' Fort-Indicted for High TreaBon-Trial-Ert- 
denee of the Informers Masseyand Corrydon-Great Speech in the Dock- 
Touching Letters to his Mother-Description in his Cell, 

It has been truly said that no words have so thrill- 
ed the Irish heart, since the ever-famous speech of Rob- 
ert Emmet, in the dock, September, 1803, as those of 
Thomas Francis Bourke, in the same place, on the Ist 
May, 1867. ±- j bk 

No doubt the similarity of the scenes which go into 
the immortal history of Ireland's martyrology simul- 
taneously suggested the comparison between them, to 
many minds. It was natural. It would have been re- 
markable, indeed, if beholding the one, the memories 
of the other were not conjured up. Sixty-four years 
almost had passed, since the devoted young Irish exile 
went from France to revolutionize his country and 
give freedom and the means of happiness and prosper- 
ity to her oppressed people. Uncontrollable circum- 
stances baffled his devotion, waylaid his hopes, exposed 
his plans, frustrated the result, which should have fol- 



122 



FENIAIT HER0E3 AITO MAETTEa. 



7 



lowed his entliusiastic and carefully devised labora, 
and flung him into the relentless jaws of English au- 
thority, as administered in Ireland by the infamous 
Norbury. He died glorying in the sacrifice he was 
able to make on the altar of his country's rights ; and 
his wondrous words are daily given in school-books' 
and "Headers," with those of the founders and heroes 
of the United States, to the boys of the Eepublic. to 
enliven their mental marrow with deeds of glory, and 
strengthen them with faith in love of countiy, even 
unto dying for her. 

The heroism and romantic disinterestedness which 
we have been accustomed to regard with a fervor which 
awoke our pride, not less than our pity — and pity, the 
Irish dramatist tells us, is " kin to love " — ^has been en- 
acted over again in these, our supposed prosaic days, 
This time the hero went to Ireland, not from France, 
but from America, guided by similar desires, fed by as 
broad a faith, and encouraged by hopes born of facts, 
apparently not less — actually miich more convincing, 
than those upon which the young revolutionist of 1803 
based his mission to Ireland. 

It is not only a source of consolation, but of hopeful 
inspiration, to see the effect produced by the bold and 
touching words of an honest man. They are self-con- 
■vincing to the heart of every manly reader ; they need 
no argument to enforce their truths, or prove the char- 
acter of the man who utters them. Thomas Francis 
Bourke, who had been scarcely mentioned in the pub- 
lic press, before his trial, has leaped into a widely ac- 
knowledged pre-eminence ; a position which cannot be 



CX)LONEL TH0SU8 'feaNCIS BOUEEE. 123 

won simply by fortunate circumstances on the one 
hand, or appealingly oppressive treatment on the other. 
The vital spark of genius, whether it be manifested in 
letters, art, science or heroism— for there is a genius in 
heroism outside of thar other reliable kind mentioned- 
m gazettes, and based on routine— must be there- 
must give life to the act or exi^ressed thought, must 
give that touch of nature which makes the whole 
world kin. Eobert Emmet was scarcely known untU 
he never could be known, save by the record which 
his genius and his faith made. The name of Thomas 
•Francis Bourke was scarcely known until it filled aU 
mouths ; and he will, no doubt, be associated with his 
day, when those who occupied public attention for 
years before it, will be placed on the retired lists of 
history, 

It is those truths, which anticipate tradition and his- 
tory, that lend an interest to the career, whatever it 
may have been, which preceded the act which gives 
or propitiates fame. 

Thomas Francis Bourke was born on the 10th De- 
cember, 1840, in the town of Fethard, county of Tip- 
peraiy-" Tipperary of the broad hiUs and golden val- 
leys ; Tipperary, where the rivers flow like Irish melo- 
dies, dividing their chorus with the more ru-^ed and 
picturesque hills of Waterford, that seem to grtw tame 
with listening, as the 'rude sea' erst did to the ' dulcet 
and harmonious breath ' of Oberon's mermaid." Like 
many of the very ablest men, wits, orators and poets, 
CuiTan Moore and Jfangan, for instance, and most 
devoted and effective patriots, like AVolfe T^ne and 



■■ |. aKf « »Mli; i *fiitfi l n> 



124 



FEIOAN HEROES AOT) MAETYES. 



f 



■WilHam Putnam McCabe, Bourte sprung from the 
people. We learn that both of his parents belonged 
to the most respectable of those families, known in 
Ireland as " the middle class." His father was a man 
of marked intelligence, and morg than the average 
education of persons engaged in trade. He carried on 
the painting and decorating business successfully for 
many years, and, as well from his cleverness and in- 
dustry, as from his family connection with ijjany of the 
professional men ana better class of farmers, enjoyed 
a large share of the contracts in his county. ¥0 man 
Btood higher in his community, than the good father 
of this good son, who was one of six children. The 
results of the famine year, which were felt so heavily in 
the south and west, materially affected ilr. Bourke'a 
business, so much so indeed, that emigration from 
the isle of sorrow was suggested, and accepted as the 
only means of affording his young familytthat present 
care and future prospect, which his heart projnpted 
him to give them. In 1850, Mr. Bourke and his fam- 
ily arrived in Xew York, and commenced the world 
anew. His days were spent in pro\ading the means 
of physical sustenance for his children, his evening 
leisure hours to the imparting of such literary aliment 
to them as his early habits enabled him to bestow. At 
the end of two years, he had acquired a modest compe- 
tency, when the failing health of his wife demanded im- 
mediate removal ; and the family, leaving ISI'ew York 
settled in St. Johns, Newfoundland, to commence life 
fur the third time. Mr. Bourke's attention and in- 
dustry produced their inevitable reward, and he had 



COLONEL THOllAS PEA^CIS BOtmKE. - 135 

succeeded in establishino- himself wT... t, • 

gaveway,andachangeaiTeeame ° ''"° ^''^*'^ 
two years in St t=.° '"^ ^^<^^™e necessary. After 

to Toronto, CaSdawS wh"^ ''''^^^^ *° ^^--« 

a member ^f the ProSal PaS ' "T"'"! ^^^^*^^^' 
Meanwhile t^, ^™^°<^'^^ Parhament resided. 

manly independence for hTmself but a T "°? " 
He nobly contributed to thSlyl^^H "^'J^ 
His father's health continued to W \ '"'**'• 

had been unremitting. T,; ? • T ^ ' ^'^ ^^ertions 
in 1858 heTe?am L nl P^^"?^^^^"*^ overtasked, 
told the entire sZort5T:r^ thenceforth we are 
and a boy b othe?"!! f father m.^j^^^^ ^^^^^ 

and skilfJl hand of t^3 7 T^ °" *^^ ''^^^ ^-rt 
of this sketh :L remttef h-T*^^ *'^ ^^^J^* 

brother in nart cf t\.^ v ^"^ers, and rebeved their 

■o-ngiy bo'™: ° n 2,;° t ""' '" '-^^'^ "■"' 

««f aer. »„d Mr M J. HeSrntT V^ ''^"^ 
indebted forraanv of fl..T;u' '^ ™ "» 

. graptic and Z^to'4tihr '""*'''' f^ "» 
=> View ot the saymgs and doings 



126 



FENLUT HEEOES AIO) MAETTES. 



in tlieir Inimble but happy liome. He says it was a 
great ti-eat to their few and select friends to visit 
them of an evening. " Poor Tom came in from his 
day's work, with his pleasant smile* and his cheery 
laugh, and his little sister picked up her books and 
slate and made way for Tom to kiss dear mother; 
and then his grown up sisters come in, and they had 
such welcome for each other as though they had been 
all absent for years. And then they sftt down to tea 
in such a jolly humor, and talked over old times; and 
old struggles, and old fr-iends, and of the little brother 
at school, in Canada, under the guardianship 'of the 
relative above mentioned; and when the tea things 
were removed they read a while froni books of their 
intelligent mother's choosing, and from the morning 
papers, which Tom was always sure to fetch home, and 
from some national journal, which they received from 
an unforgetful friend in the old countuy^. And then 
they chatted a while, and their fond mother, and one 
of the truest types of a true mother, told them stories 
of a time and a country which the elder children 
could not more than remember, and which the young- 
er ones never saw ; and she related passages of that 
country's most melancholy history, and named the 
books in which the episodes could be found, and they 
read these books as soon after as possible ; and she 
told them stories of wrongs and sufferings, which 
their race had been made to bear, some printed in 
books, and some which were printed nowhere but in 
the burning memories of the Irish people. She 
explained to them how it came about that such a race 



COLOIJEL THOMAS FEA1TCI9 EOUEKE. 



127 



had been so abused, wronged, degraded and despised, 
and she there and then made Tom a Fenian 1 And as 
the evening wore on, some friend paid a visit and 
heard a sweet song sweetly sung. (How charmingly- 
Tom's voice accompanied those of his beloved sisters 1) 
No silly rhodomontade, but the real thing—' CusUa Gab 
Machre,' and '^lio fears to speak of Ninety-eight?' 
And, dear, oh dear, how poor Tom could sing — 

• The Green, O, the Green, 'tis the color of the trae V 

And then bed-time came, and the favored visitor 
having gone, this thrice happy little household knelt 
down together to mingle their responses in the Rosary, 
and offer an united prayer for the repose of the soul 
of the dead father. And then they retired for the 
night, under the shield of God's special protection — 
tills Irish widow and her Irish children, with their 
Jiearts full of Irish virtue and Irish love." 

After an absence of three or four years, Bourke re- 
turned to New York, about May, 1865. In some re- 
spects he was greatly developed. His natural abilities 
had been expanded by experience with the world, but 
his constitution, never strong, was radically impaired. 
However, he promptly set to work, and soon his quick 
intelligence was rewarded by the position of foreman 
in one of the largest painting fii-ms in the city, with a 
handsome salary. 

The Fenian Brotherhood had received a wonderful 
impetus during the war. The development of Irish 
character and bravery, as illustrated by Corcoran, at 
Bull-Run, as prisoner of war and subsequently, in 



128 



FENIAN HHE0E3 AIO) MAETTES. 



command of the Irisli Legion ; by Mulligan, in Ms fa- 
mous defence of Lexington ; by Meagher and the Irish 
Brigade ; by Shields, who out-mancBuvred and defeated 
Stonewall Jackson ; by Bryan, who feU at the head of 
his regiment at Port Hudson ; by Cass and his " Irish 
!Ninth" of Massachusetts; by Guiney, who succeeded 
him, and by B^Ties and his twenty-eighth of the same 
State; by Cahill and his Connecticut Irishmen; by 
Lawlor, of Kentucky; McGroarty, of Ohio; Thomas 
Smythe, of Delaware ; Matthew Murphy, James E. Mc- 
Mahon, James P. Mclvor, and many others, had a very 
powerful effect on the Fenian organization. Thi^was 
augmented by the action of England during the war; 
and the expectation that hostihties between the United 
States and the former, would give the Irish soldier a 
chance to strike at his old enemy, brought hght and 
comfort on many a weary march, and nerved him to 
suiwive all difficulties, in view of the long expected day 
of retribution. This hope caused Fenianism to spread 
rapidly, as well in the army as out of it. The military 
enthusiasm, bred of experience and the self-reliance it 
creates, thus infused into the organization, gave it great 
hopes and vitality. 

On Bourke's return to l^ew York, he foimd many of 
his associates, both soldiers and Fenians, anxious to put 
the knowledge of the former iuto the cause of the latter. 
"With the teaching of his good mother, under the shel- 
ter of the Eepublic ; with the memories of British be- 
nevolence to Ireland, in the shape of famine, fever- 
slieds and oppression, it was not difficult to enlist him 
in the great old cause, with the older name. His ejm- 



COLONEL THOMAS FEAUCIS EOTTEKE. 



129 



-}p 



pathies once aroused, Bourke's every energy followed 
in the same direction. Consequently, with his positive 
talents and manly attributes, his pride of uprightness 
and horror of subterfuge, he rose rapidly in the estima- 
tion of his brethren of the Wolfe Tone Circle, which 
he had joined. He was elected a delegate to the third 
National Congress, held at Philadelphia, (Oct. 1865,) 
and strenuously strove to prevent the change in the 
Constitution which introduced a President, Senate and 
House of Delegates into the organization. His efforts, 
however, were not successful ; but the ability and intu- 
ition exhibited in the debates, in which he participated, 
were not lost upon the authorities then controlling the 
Brotherhood, and on his return to New York, he was 
selected as, and requested to accept the position of^ or- 
ganizer for the District of Manhattan- 
Thomas Bourke at once gave up his excellent em- 
ployment, and entered on that path of destiny which 
he was so well fitted to distinguish. A natural orator, 
with that useful education which is always effectively 
ready, because self-acquired; with a clear, pleasant 
voice, and a manner not less fervid because graceful 
and easy, Bourke quickly made himself felt in his new 
sphere. He never talked from a subject, but at it, and 
into it, and brought home to the minds of his hearers the 
sterling convictions which animated his own. His sin- 
cerity and earnestness were strongly indicated by his 
words and manner, and gave assurance of unquestiona- 
ble patriotism and nature's nobihty. 

At the time Bourke became organizer, there were 
some seventy circles, with ten thousand members, iu 



130 



FENIAN HEROES A2sT> MAETTEB. 



the State ot l^ew York. In two montliB of his 
" preaching" as he used to call it, New York city 
alone had one hundi'ed and four circles and thirty 
thousand members in "good standing." At the 
division in the Fenian ranks he remained with the 
parent organization; was a delegate to the Fourth 
National Congress, New York, January, 1866, which 
abolished the Presidency and Senate, and reinstated the 
old constitution ; and was unanimously elected District 
Centre for the District of Manhattan, which embraced 
the Counties of New York, "Westchester, Kings, 
Queens, Suiiblk and Richmond, in the State of New 
York, and County of Hudson, in the State of New 
Jersey. His days were taken up with incessant labor 
in his office on the ground floor of the celebrated head- 
quarter, opposite Union Square, while his nights were 
not less laboriously devoted to visiting the circles. 

The spring of 1866 was looked forward to by the 
great body of the Fenians with a sort of restless 
expectant enthusiasm. It was hoped that the rising 
in Ireland was close at hand, and the government of 
the Fenians in New York purchased and fitted out 
its first vessel for the looked-for Irish crisis. When 
this was eflected, Bourke's heart became lightened. 
Contemplating the prospect of active service, he 
exclaimed, " Tliank God, for I am tired of preaching !" 
He was determined to go with the vessel, in striving 
to dissuade him from which. Col. O'Mahony, the Head 
Centre, said: 

" Why, yon can be of no use yet, you are not a 
Bailor." 



COLONEL THOMAS FRANCIS BOHRKE. 



131 



1 



«No matter," said Bourke, "I am resolved to go, 
and you must let me. There is surely something 
that I can do, I can keep accounts for the paymaster." 

"Very weU, then," said the Head Centre, "be 
paymaster yourself." 

" Thank you, sir," said Bourke. 

On that day, Bourke resigned his District Cen- 
treship, but he did not sail for Ireland then. Other 
divisions following the Campo BeUo adventure, proved 
disastrous to the plans of the brotherhood. But 
neither the faith nor the perseverance of Bourke 
was shaken. He may have been disgusted, but he 
was not disheartened. On the arrival of James 
Stephens, Bourke again undertook the continuance of 
those labors in which he had been so wearied and 
60 successful, and throughout the summer he remained 
at his post, making tours of organization, and assist- 
ing Mr. Stephens in his attempt to rebuild the 
comparatively shattered fabric ot Fenianism. He 
had set his heart too largely on the matter not to see 
further into it. He had labored too zealously not to 
seek with his own eyes a result. In the Winter, he 
begged his mother's blessing, received it -'the manner 
heTo proudly aUudes to in his speech in the dock, and 
started, hoping to aid or make an oppori;unity whereby 
the leaders of the Fenian movement might vindicate 
their promises. 

The same friend, quoted above, Mr. Heffeman, 
gives a very graphic sketch, not only of Col. Bourke's 
appearance before he started, but of the views wliich 
inspired him to such a course. This is peculiarly 



132 



FENIAN HEROES AOT) MAETTE9. 



interesting, and exhibits in a marked manner tlie 
comprehensive ^dews of duty, as well as of faith, grow- 
ing out of a clear head and a fi'esh heart. 

"I met him," says Mr. Heffernan, "the evening 
before he started for Ireland. His bright, intelligent 
face was pale and sunken, and his dark, penetrating 
eyes gleamed with the additional lustre of a violent 
fever. His soft, persuasive voice had a deeper tone, 
which he tried to make as cheerful as he could, but he 
was sick — very, very sick, and every muscle quivered, 
with pain. His health, never very robust, had begun 
to fail early in the siunmer, just about a year ago,' 
and at the time of his departure, his buoyant and 
happy spirit commenced to succumb to the disease 
which had slowly but too surely undermined his 
constitution. Hia ringing laugh was growing more 
moistened, so to speak, every day, and there were 
moments when his countenance wore that sad, half 
Borrowful, half resigned expression, peculiar to those 
who fed that their days are not long in the land. 
I tried to dissuade him from going to Ireland th^n^ 
because I knew that his declining physical strength 
would not permit of his undergoing a military cam- 
paign. In order further to prevail on him to abandon 
his design, I taunted him that his only motive in 
going to Ireland must be the desire to redeem hia 
character from the stain that bad men would try to 
fasten upon it, on account of his persistent adherance 
to Mr. Stephens while he conducted the affairs of the 
fcnian Brotherhood ia New York. 

" ' There,' said the gallant fellow, ' you evince tlio 



COLONEL TH0MA8 FEiNClS BOUEEE. 



133 



mistaken notions peculiar to those who have not 
studied the question in all its bearings. The preservar 
tion of my honor is but one (and it is the least 
important) motive, which impels me to the course 
which I am about to take, and which I should speedily 
abandon were there no higher principle at stake. In 
the first place, we are not sure that the movement 
w^l be abortive. Providence may throw the neces- 
sary advantages in our favor, and where there is even 
the ghost of a chance, the present desperate state of 
. affairs demands that we should run the risk. But, 
allowing the impossibility of our attaining the great 
object of our lives at present, a ' rising' in Ireland now 
cannot be otherwise than a success, for it is indispen- 
sable to the very life of the cause. Let us see how the 
case stands. You know, as well as I do, that the only 
hope of Ireland's redemption rests with the 'Irish 
Nation in America,' and you know that that new 
nation has the wiU and the power to make Ireland's 
freedom a certainty. You know that so far from 
proving this doctrine to be fallacious, the ill-directed 
and badly managed Fenian Brotherhood has fiilly 
demonstrated what an immense power this new Irish 
nation might be under honest and able guidance. 
You know, that in proper hands, it could tear Ireland 
from the united grasp of all Europe. But to be of 
any use whatever, in that direction, it is absolutely 
necessary that a clear understanding should exist 
between the Irish exiles here, and the patriots who 
may still remain on their native soil. They should 
regard each other with more thaa brotherly love, and 



134 



"FEStyS HEROES JlSD MAHTTES. 



above all, tliey must liave a firm faith in, and reliance 
iipon, each other. It matters not now fi'om what 
cause, but that feeling of mutual faith and reliance 
grows weaker and weaker every day. It must be 
re-inspired and strengthened at any cost, or effective 
work for Ireland will be rendered impossible. The 
injudicious course hitherto pursued by Mr. Stephens 
has left the men at home under a strong impression 
that they have been abandoned by their brothers in 
America. K we allow that impression to remain, 
they will never trust us again, and then good-bye tp 
all hope for Ireland ! It must, I say, be removed at any 
cost I Now, who is to remove it ? The wily enemy 
is now at work, in press and pulpit, aided by many 
an ' Irish patriot' (God bless the hearers !) to weaken 
the faith of the people, here and at home, in their 
leaders — to prove that these leaders have, through 
sordid and other miworthy motives, led their confiding 
followers into a trap, and then abandoned them. It 
must be confessed that the conduct of Stephens has 
given this villainous slander a very plausible appear- 
ance of truth. He, having made that disastrous 
pledge, should have redeemed it with his life. His 
failm-e or folly must completely demoralize the people, 
if it be not counteracted. It must be. Kelley, Halpin, 
M'Cafferty, and the rest of us — 'his associates in 
crime,' as we are innocently called — must prove to the 
people at home that their lives and liberties are not 
trifled with by the Irishmen of America. We must 
prove to them that we are in earnest — that we are 
ready to pour out our life-blood, not only to give them 



COLOITEL THOMAS FEASTCIS BOTTEKE, 



135 



fi-eedom, but even to save the common cause from 
shame and dishonor. We have had the name of 
'leaders,' and it devolves upon us to give the lie 
direct to those who would but too gladly say to Irishr 
men: 'Your leaders betray you; beware how you 
trust them again.' Mutual trust and confidence, 
between the Irish in Ireland and the Irish in America, 
and between the people and their leaders must be 
restored. When that is done, the game can be played 
over again, with all the advantages on our side of 
having seen the enemy's hand. To be sure, it wiU 
cost some hundreds of lives, but it will be well worth 
the purchase. The blood of her children is the only 
commodity in which poor old Ireland is rich. * * 
But it may be objected that in ruining ourselves and 
those who depend on us, we have no moral right to 
involve the destruction of hundreds of good men in 
Ireland, who may follow us into danger and death. 
I am aware that quite a number of tender-hearted 
' patriots' would take this high ground just now, and 
they would be perfectly right if those on whom they 
lavish their cheap compassion were of the same 
opinion, which, unfortunately for that, merciful argu- 
ment, they are not. It would, no doubt, be very 
pleasant for those, whose malignant tongues and pens 
are already prepared to vituperate us in any case, to be 
able to say that we ' dragged ' our poor, ignorant 
countrymen to perdition, unshriven and unprepared, 
in order to redeem our own characters, or through 
some other less creditable, personal motive. The 
facts, however, of which we trust to you to give a 



....^iSi^i^bai^ja^AlJJitiiiMiiBi^''' 



lin i l i in i ULL in — 



*S4iii4iiiiB£ 



oa;.^;,»,^.:;^;i^.:J.»^;^..i/^..>^,^;aiik.aiaiJte: 



136 



FEN-IAN HEEOES AOT) MAETTES. 



COLONEL TnOlLiS TItANCIS DOTJEKE. 



137 



plain statement, at the proper time, will utterly belie 
the assertions that vre are "urged to this course by any 
selfish consideration ■whatever, or even that impru- 
dence had any share in the matter. Ton are aware 
that within the past two months we have received 
despatches from every district in Ireland, all bearing 
the same burden — all chorusing the same tune — all 
beseeching us to go to them at once, no matter what 
means we possessed, and help them to fight the good 
fight, which they would immediately inaugurate with- 
out us in case we failed to be at their head. If we 
oppose them now, our own brothers in Ireland wiI14)e 
the most persistent and vehement malignera of the 
Irish race in America. What wiU be the result ? The 
men at home wiU never trust us again, and then, I 
repeat, farewell to Irish Regeneration 1 They, not we, 
^XQ forcing this business ; but, God willing, if they go 
down, we, who first raised their hopes, will go down 
with them — aye, no matter how far down they may 
go 1 Therefore, I go to Ireland — feeble and prostrate 
as I am in body, I shall go to Ireland, and were I 
obliged to be carried through the fields, I shall be in 
the thick of the first fight ! My comrades and myself 
with a full belief in the ultimate triumph of ouj holy 
cause, go to ofier up our lives — not even for the 
immediate consummation of our dearest hopes, but 
for the eradication of that distrust and want of true 
fraternal feeling, whose seeds the enemy has scattered 
broadcast amongst us, and for the establishment of 
that love of one another and kindly forbearance of 
each other's faults and follies, without which the 



Irish race will ever be the shackled shame of mankind. 
We give our lives as an o'fl'ering of purification, that 
our cause may be cleansed from the pollution of its 
enemies— that it may be lifted from the filthy slough 
into which it has been cast, and placed as high beyond 
the touch of the venal and corrupt, as it is to-day 
beneath the notice of those who are sincere and" 
worthy. It behoves you who remain behind to see 
that this willing offering is not made in vain. On 
with the good work! Begin over again, and we'll 
fight it out on this line I Farewell 1 '! 

He went to give his young life as an '•' oflfering of pu- 
rification," for the " eradication of distrust," for the es- 
tablishment of mutual love and " kindly forbearance." 
These parting words of Colonel Bourke, show him to 
have sounded the depths of Irish necessity, and to have 
struck the key- note of Irish success. He went to a 
sacrifice to show others how to go to a success. 

In the distribution of the district commands. Colonel 
Bom-ke was assigned to the Tipperary District. The 
general rising, as agreed upon, took place on the 6th 
March, 1867, and under that date, was issued from the 
" Head-Quarters I. E. Army, Limerick Junction, Tip- 
perary," the following proclamation, the main charac- 
teristics of which will not lead us to err in assigning it 
to Colonel Bourke: 

"Soldiers, — The hour for which you have longed has come at 
last, Tou are now about to confront the enemies of your countiy 
and your race. You must not expect material aid from without 
nntU you have shown the friends of Republican Liberty, by deeds, 
not words, that yon are worthy their sympathy. 



'^'^BiSiii'™^"''^^'^*'*'^^^^ 



138 



FENIAN HEKOES AND MAJKTTRa. 



" Ton are not bo well armed as you might be, * • • 
but you will remember that history furnishes no instance of revo- 
lution, when the insurgents tools the field as well armed as the gov- 
ermnent forces opposed to thent. 

"You will carry on the struggle for Irish Independence accord- 
ing to the usages of civilized warfare ; but should the enemy inau- 
gurate the 'stamping out' process, or should they insult, injure or 
violate any of the daughters of our land, let then your battle-cry 
oe war to the knife I 

"Comrades I the eyes of the world arc npon you, and thousands 
of yovir brothers beyond the Atlantic, and elsewhere, will rush to 
arms, when yotir deeds proclaim that you are reaUy ' the men in 
the gap.' 

"IrishmenI Jlay the wrongs and woes of centuries of oppression 
and misrule, neiTe your ai-ms when you march forth to combat, 
with the flag of you fethers above you, and the light of battle in 
your faces." 

The Govemment was prepared for tlie rising. It had 
in its pay since the September previous, the now noto- 
riously infamous infoiTaer, John Joseph Corydon, who 
had been used as a despatch messenger between the 
leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, for nearly two 
years. This Corydon set the authorities on the track 
of Patrick Condon, alias Godfrey Massey, who acted 
in the capacity of traveling agent, or adjutant-general 
of Colonel Thomas J. KeUey, the acting C. O. I. R. 
He became likewise an informer, and his evidence con- 
victed Bom-ke, who was captured at the affray at Bally- 
hurst Fort, near Tipperary, on the Cth March. Bourke's 
graces of manner won even the good-will of liis cap- 
tors. On his deportation, for trial, to Dublin, Major 
Lind, of the 31st regiment, shook hands with him, say- 
ing : " Good-bye, General Bourke ; I wish you good 



COLONEL THOlLiS FEANCI3 BOTTEKE. 



139 



fortune." Bourke replied : " I wish you the same, Ma- 
jor, and thank you for the kindness you have extended 
to me." 

The Special Commission sat in Dublin on the 10th 
April, when the prisoners, against whom bills of indict- 
ment had been found, were placed at the bar, in order 
to receive the necessary notice of trial, and to have coun- 
sel assigned them. By direction of the Lord Chief Jua- 
tice, Thomas F., known as " General " Bourke, was the 
fii-st placed at the bar. His Lordship then informed him 
that the grand jmy had found bills of indictment for 
high treason against him ; that he was entitled to copies 
of the indictment, lists of the jurors, and of the wit- 
nesses against him; also, that he would have ten clear 
days to consider his defence, and was at Hberty to name 
two counsel, who would be assigned by the court. 
Colonel Bourke selected Messrs. Butt and Downes as 
his counsel, and Mr. Lawless as his attorney. 
^ The indictment found by the grand jury, which con- 
sisted of four counts, may be here condensed, as it re- 
fei-s not only to Bourke, but to other noted Fenians, 
whose names it preserves, and who will be referred to 
m subsequent chapters. 

The first count sets forth the general charge against 
the accused, as follows : " The Jurors for our Lady the 
Queen, upon their oath and affirmation, do say and pre- 
sent, that Thomas Bourke, (otherwise called Thomas F. 
Bourke,) John M'Cafferty, (otherwise called WiUiam 
Jackson,) Edward Duffy, John Flood, (otherwise called 
John PhiOips,) Patrick Meares, Patrick Doran, George 
ConnoUy, (otherwise caUed Francis ConnoUy,) Jarleth 



m > m mis uj i i ii^ffyf f^ • 



140 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AlO) MAETTE8. 



Mooney, Ilenrj Filgate, Thomas Joseph William 
Clarke, John Hughes, Joseph "Wheelan, Chi-istopher 
Byrne, Luke Fullam, Laurence Fullam, James Gor- 
man, Terence Kelly, and John Beirne, being subjects . 
of om* said Lady the Queen, not regarding the duty of 
their allegiance, nor having the fear of God in their 
hearts, but being moved and seduced by the instiga- 
tion of the devil, as false traitors against our said Lady 
the Queen, and wholly withdrawing the allegiance, 
fidelity and obedience, which every true and faithful 
subject of our said Lady the Queen should and of right 
ought to bear towards our said Lady the Queen, to wit, 
on the 11th day of July, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundi'ed and sixty-six, and on divers 
other days, as well before as after that day, to wit, at 
the Parish of St. Peter, in the County of Dublin, mali- 
ciously and traitorously, together with divers other false 
traitors, to the jurors aforesaid unknown, did compass, 
imagine, devise and intend to depose our said Lady the 
Queen from the royal state, title, power and govern- 
ment of this realm, and from the style, honor and king- 
ly name of the Lnpsrial Crown thereof, and to bring 
and ^t our said Lady the Queen to death ; and the 
said treasonable compassing, imagination, device and 
intention, maliciously and traitorously did express, ut- 
ter, declare and evince, by divers overt acts and deeds, 
hereinafter mentioned, that is to say, in order to fulfil, 
perfect and bring to efiect their most evil and wicked 
treason and treasonable compassing, imagination, de- 
vice and intention aforesaid, they, the said Thomas 
Bourke, etc., as such false traitors as aforesaid, after- 



.■iii^.a^aai,<a&at^>~^.^:^-.^»:.t^^ 



COLONEL THOMAS FEANC18 BOUEEE. 



141 



wards, to wit, on the 11th day of July, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eiglit huladred and sixty- 
si::, and on other days, as well before as after that 
day in the United States of America, did conspire, con- 
sult, consent and agree with James Stephens, John 
O'Mahony, Colonel Kelly, General Cluseret, Doran 
Killian, James J. Kogers, General Mullen, General Vif- 
quain. General Fariola, General Condon, Colonel Quin- 
lan, Colonel Henry Quinn, Colonel Patrick Leonard, , 
Major O'Dowd, Captain McClure, Captain Fitzharris, 
Captain Gleeson, Captain Burke, Captain O'Brien, 
Major Delahunt, Captain Nolan, Captain Bible, Cap- 
tain Ilennessy, Captain Mackay, Captain Decle, Cap- 
tain Moran, Captain Dunn, Captain O'lSTeill, Captain 
Joyce, Captain Corrigan, Captain Doheny, Captain 
Gibbons, Captain Murtagh, and divers other false trai- 
tor, to the jurors aforesaid unknown, to move and stir 
certain foreigners and strangers, to wit, certain citizens 
of the United States of America, and persons resident 
in America, with force and arms, to invade that part 
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 
called Ireland. And further to fulfil, perfect and bring 
to their most -wicked treason and treasonable compass- 
ing, imagination, device and intention aforesaid, they, 
the said Thomas Bourke, etc., as such false traitors as 
aforesaid, afterwards, to wit, on the 11th day of Feb-* 
ruary, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hun- 
dred and sixty-seven, and on divei-s other days, as well 
before as after that day, mahciously and traitorously 
did make divers jom-neys, and did go into that part of 
her Majesty's dominions called England, and, to wit, 



M gtMiifliitf'--^'-^f-^i^'^'''^*'*^'^ "Vi'i ttdC"" 'Ai 



142 



FENTAN HEEOES AKD MAETTE8. 



at Chester, in the shire of Cheshire, did collect and 
bring t<tgf;ther a great number of false traitors, to 
the numVrr of three thousand, in order to raise rebellion 
and insurrection therein, and to seize on, take, and 
carry a%va_r a quantity of guns, pistols and other mili- 
tary weaffins, the property of her Majesty, wherewith 
they might the better arm themselves, and fight against 
the troops and soldiers of our said Lady the Queen." 

The next section of the fi.rst count charges that the 
accused did conspire with the persons named, and other 
false traitors, to raise, levy and make insurrection, re- 
bellion and war against the Queen, and " witfi force 
and arms, at the Parish of Tallaght, in the County of 
Dublin, maliciously and traitorously did arm them- 
selves witli, and bear and carry certain weapons, that 
is to say, guns, pistols and pikes, with intent to asso- 
ciate themselves with divers other false traitors, armed 
with guns, pistols and pikes, whose names are to the 
said jurors unknown, for the purpose of raising, levy- 
ing and making public insurrection, rebellion and war 
against our said Lady the Queen, and of committing 
and perpetrating a cruel slaughter of and amongst the 
faithful subjects of our said Lady the Queen, witliin 
this realm." 

The subsequent sections charge the prisoners with 

'having attacked the police at GlencuUen, Stepaside. 

Kilmallock, Eallyknoekane, Ballyhurst and Drogheda. 

The sec^jnd count repeats the same overt acts as in 
the first count, omitting the words " being subjects of 
our Lady the Queen, not regarding the duty of their 
allegiance," and the words " wholly Mathdrawing the 



COLONEL THOMAS FEANCI8 BOTJEKE. 



143 



allegiance, fidelity and obedience which every tme 
and faithful subject of our said Lady the Queen should 
and of right ought to bear towards our said Lady the 
Queen." 

The third count charges that the accused and others 
did traitorously assemble and make war against the 
Queen in the County Dublin ; and the fourth again 
sets out the illegal acts relative to the attack jipon the 
police barracks at GlencuUen, etc., where the accused 
" did arm and an-ay themselves in a warlike manner, 
and did then and there make a warlike attack upon 
and fire at a body of constables, then and there lawful- 
ly assembled in the due execution of their duty, and 
then and there did make a warlike attack upon a cer- 
tain dwelling-house and barrack, in which divers con- 
stables of her Majesty then were, and did call on and 
demand said constables to surrender to the Irish Re- 
public, and did fire upon said constables, and then did 
compel the said constables to surrender the said house 
to them, the said traitors." 

In the list of witnesses to be produced by the CroWn, 
against the prisoners indicted for high treason at the 
Special Commission, and to be resumed on Wednes- 
day, the 24th of April, when the trial of the Fenian 
prisoners would proceed forthwith, were the following 
persons connected with the United States of America. 
They are thus described, amongst over two hundred 
others: Patrick Condon, otherwise called Godfrey 
Massey, formerly a colonel in the Confederate Army 
of the Southern States of IS'orth America ; afterwards a 
canvasser for a commercial house in New Orleans, and 



ftmiiirm 



144 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAJBTYE8. 



at present no occupation ; formerly Phelan's coffee- 
house, at New Levee, in the city of Kew Orleans, 
America; afterwards Tavistock street, in the county 
of Middlesex, in England, and now the office of the 
Metropolitan Police, Lower Castle Yard, county of the 
city of Dublin. John Joseph Corydon, formerly a 
lieutenant in the United States of America, and at 
present no profession ; late the Commercial Hotel, Is- 
lington, Liverpool, in England, and now the station of 
the Metropolitan Police, Chancery lane, county of the 
city of Dublin. John Devany, formerly a clerk in a. 
mercantile establishment in New York, and at present 
no profession ; late Kidge street, New York, in the 
United States of America, and now the station of the 
Metropolitan Police, Chancery lane, county of the city 
of Dublin, 

The trial commenced on the 24th of April. The 
following evidence was elicited : 

It was proved by one Edward Brett, a servant 
of Mr. James Bartel, of Thomastown, that having 
been sent for bread on the morning of the 6th March, 
he was stopped on his return, and from statements 
made to him he brought tlie bread to Ballyhurst Fort, 
where Bourke, who was lame, distributed it among 
the men. Sub-inspector Wm. Kelly, who had seen 
Bourke in the month previous, described him as " a 
man with a broken up constitution, and not capable 
of much physical exertion, 

WiUiam Woodworth, color-sergeant 31st Kegiment, examined: 
I was stationed at Tipperaiy, on the afternoon of the 6th March 
last. I went out with about sixty men to Ballyhurst Fort. I saw 



COtDNEL THOMAS FEANCIS BOtTEKB. 



145 



I 



n large number of men emerging from it in twos and threea. As 
we approached the foit, we were fired upon by men in the fort 
I saw a single horseman in the fort He moved away in an 
oblique direction from the rest of the mob. As he rode away he 
was fired upon by several of the meru I obseived hun fall or 
dismount from his horse. We closely pursued him. Privates 
Squires and Dickens were under my command. With me they 
overtook him behind a hedge. I identify that person as the pris- 
oner Bourke. He had a stick in his hand and appeared to be 
lame, I did not lose sight of him from the: time I first saw him • 
until he dismounted. There were no persons near him but soldieis 
when we arrested him. 

Wm. Roberts, color-sergeant 81st, deposed that he searched the 
prisoner Bourke, and found with him a pocket-book and two docu- 
ments. In the pocket-book was inscribed the following oath: 
"In the presence of Almighty Gad, I solemnly swear that I will 
not bear arms against, or by word or act give information, aid or 
comfort to the enemies of the Irish Republic, untU regularly 
relieved of this obligation. So help me God." The two docu- 
ments were lists of names. 

On cross-examination the witness stated that the man on horse- 
back was three hundred j'ards away from him when the men 
fired, and that at that distance he could not recognize him. 

Another account, written on authority, varies little 
from the depositions on the trial, but sufficient to give 
Bourke full credit for the position in which he was cap- 
tured, and says : " Tlie force of the 31st, which acted 
there under Major Lynd, did not at first fire a single 
shot, but charged up a hill against the Fenian insur- 
gents, intending to attack them with the bayonet. 
The latter bolted away, and the soldiers, after a long 
nin after them, saw them gathered together at some 
di-stance off. Marksmen were then ordered to the 
front, and knelt down and fired, and several Fenians 



-^ 



U6 



TEmXS HEE0E3 AKD MAHTTES, 



^ere wounded. It w rwt a fact that the rebd caUeA 
Vohnd' Bourlce surrendered. He was on a horse 
trying to rally liis men when a sergeant took aim and 
fired at him, and it is supposed that he wounded the 
horse from which Bourke fell. Bourke was afterwards 
found on a truss of straw, and was arrested," 

The evidence of the informers, Godfrey Massey, 
and John Joseph Corydon, on the trial of General 
Bourke, referring to many other Fenian heroes and 
martyrs, is given substantially in full from the reports, 
leaving out the questions which ehcited the narratives. 
The same evidence in its main features was given by 
. them on the trials of the others identified and convict- 
ed by them. ^ 

Patrick Condon, alias Godfrey Massey, was caUed. 

On the witness ascending the table, the prisoner, General Bourke, 
changed his position in the dock, and looked Massey straight in the 
face, but the latter turned his eye aside. The witness stated that 
he was a colonel in the 2d Texas regiment, Confederate service after- 
wards a canvasser for a commercial house m New Orieans ; that he 
became connected with the Fenian Brotherhood about AuoTist, 1865 
and went to New York in October, 1866. He first saw Bourke! 
whom he now identified, in the Central Fenian Office, 19 Chatham 
street. New York. He met Stephens there ako. He continued- 
I was at a Fenian meeting in Philadelphia. Steps were there 
taken for the purpose of coUecting war materials and money. An . 
officer was appointed to take charge of the materials. The war 
materials were to be sent to New York, for shipment to Ireland. 
Stephens and I left PhiLidelphia and went to Washington. We 
there met some men belonging to the organization, and consulted 
them. I know that James Stepliens was connected with the Fenian 
Brotherhood. That portion of it which began with John O'Msho- 
ny, was under his directioa I have known the prisoner, Bomke, as 



COLONEI. THOMAS FRANCI8 EOtJEKE. 



147 



Colonel Thomas Bourke, or Colonel Thomas P. Bourke, in America. 
I knew very weU a person named Colonel KeUey. I gave money to 
Colonel Thomas P. Bourke. I gave him about £10 in London. I 
stated to him when I gave him the money the purpose, which was 
that he should come with me to Ireland to join the rising ; that was 
some weeks previous to the 11th February last He said that he 
had .to leave London for Ireland on the evening of the day in which 
he would receive the money. After I left Washington, I went to 
New York. I arrived there before Stephens by a few days. On 
Stephens' return, there was a meeting of the Fenians held at New 
York. About the middle of December, 1866, there was a Fenian 
meeting held. Some of the Irish Centres were present General 
Halpin was present. I cannot thmk of the names of all, but about 
thuty were present I am not sure whether the prisoner. Colonel 
Bourke, was there. Stephens presided at the meeting. 8t«phena 
made a statement showing the amount of war material held by the 
Brotherhood at New York. He said that the amount was not one- 
seventh of the minimum fixed by himself He said that the mini- 
mum was thirty thousand rifles. He objected to open the fight, as 
he had promised, but to prove his fidelity to Ireland, he ofiered to 
come over and put himself hi the hands of the pohce authorities, 
and to be hanged. That proposition was scouted by every one, and 
it was determined that the fight should be opened. I knew a person 
named Captain M'Catferty. He was at that meetmg. Some even- 
higs after that, Stephens convened another meeting. About twenty 
officials were present at that meeting. It was pmely a military one, 
M'Caffcrty wanted to know the plan of the campaign. Stephens 
did not Uke to mention it. I said that M'Caflerty was right, and 
supported his motion to divulge the plan of the campaign to his 
officers. That was what fumed out afterwards to be the campaign 
for Ireland. At that meeting several of the officers said that they 
would leave on the next day, Saturday, for Iieland, and they did. 
Tlicre was a ILst of names of officers who were to go to Ireland made 
out. I got that list of names from Colonel Kelley. He then held 
th.^ position of C. O. I. R. He was the deputy of Stephens. C. O. 
1. K. signifi.-d "Chief Organizer of the Irish Repubhc." After the 
time of the firet meeting, some of the officers left for Ireland. I do 



148 



FENIiN HEROES AKD MAETTR8, 



not remanber the names of those who left for Ireland. After that 
mee,„gi,»ended a meeting at Stephens' lodgings, West Eleventh 

fZ%J f ^ ™' '"'' ^'"''"'^ '" ^"'--^ Colonel Kelly, Cap- 
am O Shea, and others. I know the district of Manhattan At a 
Bubsequen. meetmg Stephens was deposed and repudiated, andCd! 

the Stat rM^"" iT' '''''P'°= '°^ ^^"«^'-<^ fiomPortland,^ 
onelSlff'r ^f'7J^"^<^N-^-'UreeeivedfromCol- 
the officii ft r f V^"'""^ """"^^'^ *° ^-^ <^=««t,nted among 

I tve th™\ '" f '' ""' *" '''°''''''' ^-''^ Instmctions 

I gave them the moneys. I arrived in Liverpool on the 2Gth Jann 

!1™? • -^"^r-^* ^''^ "ffl^-^-^ ^'J^ose n^es Colon'el Kelly dis- 
SSe .^: -'^-ho-I-t in London, .-as the prisoner, Th'omi 
iJcurke, who wm appomtcd to the Tipperaiv di.trirt r„r., 
O'Brien and Dominick O'Mahony ..re'^mcZ ^Tcl cZZ 
De^y was for the Mill-street distriet A man named Jov e wi I 
ce forFermoy. General Haipin was for ,l>e Dublin diSer ll" 

g. Ph by paragraph. It spoke aboutthe wrongs of Ireland a^ 
called upon the people to take up arms and invok n" tit ? 



■tfMWMAi^Mawa 



COMHm. THOILU rEAKCIS BOOTIII. 149 

"lU*^ °'^'"""» "■>•'"" "'-^ ".» "« .w 

don. I went to Colonel Kelly's lod-mgs. Kellv ^r ' J 

zirrT ': '^"'^'"^^ ^^ ^^'^^ th^linLXeTS 

tte 5th of Ma^ch, that being the anniver^ of the day on which 

not be held by the msurgents. A guerrilla war w^ to be mLTI 
the monnng after my amval, and returned to Dublin, for a day or 

t^'toD^fr *'-''""'"^' f--^'a,ypu^se. On m/i 

turn to Dubhn a meeting of Fenian Centres was held, at some dS^ 
tanee from Porto Bello BazTaeks. O'Beu^e was there. ToTd ^ 
the mght of the 5th Mareh was fixed for the rising. On the n^ 
day went to Cork, where I saw O'Mahony, to wh;m I sSd ^W 
t^e mh of March had been fixed upon for L nslTsooTlf^l 
left Cork, and went to the Limerick Junction, whe,; I wa. i^^L 
on the railway platfonn, on the night of the 4th MarcZ ^ 



On the cross-examination, Connsellor Butt forced 
e^ an? '?/^^r ^<- ^he disgrace both of his ^Z 
er and wife. He proved he was the illegitimate sea 



FENIAN HEROES AND ItAETTES. 



150 

of the foi-mer by one Ma^sey, and that the latter pressed 
nim to become an informer. 

The statement of tlie other wretch, Coiydon, whose 
hrazen mmchalance was quite in keeping with his 
degradation was as foUows : 

the ri?r!r.' 'V"' ^'^'^^^ ^^^ • ^ ^•^■^'"^^ - ^^^^^^ of 

heP.. , r'^ ^ *^ ^'^'"''^ °f 1S«2; I was then in 

?aJck J rT/' *"''."^''^*' "•"=" '^"^'■'^^ *^« organization^ 
me he w^rrr ^'"''" "^" administered the oath to 
Sat,;. I ^ ' °''"' ''^ ^'^^"' I l^^t «a^ tim on the 

Sattn-day n>ght previous to the rising; I remained nearly fo^ 
years m the Federal army; I left it ir> Juij. i865; I menZ 
F man meetmgs while I was in the Federal aly ; I 'n,et Cond^ 
Gleeson, Colonel Burke, and Lieutenant Joyce; the prisoner^ 

Yo'rkr T *'' ^""""'^ ^""^"^^ ' -«-' ^ r;maine7rNew 
York about a month after the army was disbanded; I attend^ 
^e Feman headquarters nearly evety day while I ;«« i^ N^w 
York ; they were in Duane street ; John O'Mahony was the hZ 

ZZZTV "^^^^»»^y J"^° O'Mahony to James Stephens 
m Angus ;!• was not the bearer of any despatches; I was 
accompamed by four other persons com^ected with the Feni^ 
organization; their names were Major Maitin Wallis, Captain 
M.cbael O'Bnen, Edwanl O'Byme and Thomas O'Connor w^ 
went to LivenxK.1, and from that we came to Dublin. In Dublin I 
attended a Fenian meetingatDenieffe's house inNo.lh Amie street- 
it w^ attended by James Stephens, O'Donovan Rossa and otheiB • 
i said to Stephens we were desired by John O'JIahony to report 
ourselves to him ; he told us to find lodgings, and that he wo^d ' 
know where to find us ; Iremained in DubUntill November, 1865 • 
whde here I heard of James Stephen's an-est; I know Colonel 
KeUy ; he was at that time an officer in the Fenian Brotherhood- 
he t^d me that the purport of the dispatches was that Stephen^ 
would be out of jail in five or six days; I mean out of Richmond 
I went to New York by the Scotia on the 19th November- I saw 



COLONEL THOIUS FRANCIS BOITEKE. 



151 



0'5Iahony and many other Fenian officers; we had a meeting 
when I arrived, and we gave the tidings of the expected escape of 
Stephens ; the prisoner Bourke was there ; I had been introduced 
to him in Union-square ; I came back to Ireland ; the announce- 
ment of Stephen's escape was made while I was there ; Bonrke 
was an organizer for Manhattan, and he urged the men to unity, 
and said when Stephens could get out of an English jail what 
could not people outside do in accomplishing the objects for which 
they were banded ; I came to Queenstown on the 22nd December; 
I went to Cork, and from thence to Dublin ; I remained in Ireland 
one night ; I delivered my dispatches to Colonel Kelly in Heytes- 
bur>' str( et ; I got dispatches from Kelly to O'Mahony, and went 
to New York again, where I saw- Bourke; in January, 1866, I 
came to Liverpool, and thence to Dublin ; I remained here until 
April ; I know M'Cafierty ; he was introduced to me as a Fenian ; 
I last saw M'CaSeily in the prisoner's van ; he was described to me 
as an officer of the organization, and one of the guerrillas of the 
Southern States ; I met several other prominent Fenians, including 
Kelly, Col. Bourke, John Flood, Capt. Doherty, Major Quinn, 
&c. ; I saw M'Cafferty in Dublin, in the latter end of January or 
Febraary ; I met also Edward Duffy ; in jipnl, 1866, I went to 
Liverpool and remained there until February last : I received pay 
from the funds of the Fenian brotherhood ; the paymaster was 
Capt. O'Rorke, who went by the name of Beecher ; we received 
ordere to be prepared to move on to Chester ; our orders were at 
first to remain quiet untU we would be told to move ; I next saw 
the prisoner in the early part of January, 1867, in Birchfield 
street, in Liverpool ; it was then stated that he came from Amer- 
ica ; I met persons who had come from America with him ; they 
were Captain or Colonel Dunne, John Joseph Rogers, Harry 
Miledy, who went by the name of Shaw, and some others ; I met 
those people at a meeting in Birchfield street ; the prisoner Bourke 
was at that meeting; he stated that they came over for the 
purpose of fighting, and it was useless to think any longer that 
Stephens would fight, for he would not ; I met John M'Cafierty in 
Liverjxjol, in February, 1867 ; I met him on more occasions than 
one ; I remember a meeting being held in Liverpool in the latter 



152 



FENIAN HEROES AND lIAETTEa. 



end of Jannao-, 1867, or beginning of Febmaiy, for the puroose 

-n ere m favor of forming a directoiy ; he said they were forminir 
ad..ctoo;andM'Cafferty and he were in it, and hlwaS^ 

Sr ^ °;« -wM'Caffertj-afew days before the Chester 
affair, Flood and aD the American officers in Liverpool were 
there ; th^eeting was held at the house of a man naZd wZ 
in Edgar street; M'Cafferty and Flood eaid they were sent fS^ 
^:y srif t^^ "^* "^""^^ "^ '^' their^ayireSrT 
Chester; that the castle there wa. to be attacked, the arms ee^d 
a t^m seized, and the arms put into it of c»iJe; the ra^s^^e 

trn'r ohZ r T "^" ^"' ^' ''' -^toprocer; 

m Ireland • tliat plan was agreed to at the meeUng ; no anun^e- 
inentslhrc=«3ingitontweremade; after the meeting seJTtet 

a'^fh'r ^"''' "''"'' '""^ Monday. I gave inform'atStft^e 
au.hontiesm Liverpool, I made arrangements to go to Chest r 

theil t ;r-\ T "^""^ ^'°"' ^^°'^' ^-' ^ Chester: I i; 
thm at Birkenhead; I went there with them; I me AnZ 
Gibbon^ one of the American officers at Birkenh'ead ; a c<;tr^ 
niand of the order to march on Chester was given by gS^ 
he t<Jd me that the thing was " sold ;" that some one had info^: 
ed ; he said that M'Cafferty sent to him to teU them aU in Li'eZl 
«m lie, jngwa. "sold," and they were to go back; aftlr^ 
ate m February, I got orders to come to Dublm; I remainS 
«ie,.eunt.Uhemtended rising; I came to Dublin ; I knewSel 
Godfrey Massey ; I saw him after I came to Irela;d ; I was oriL 
ed^ gotosniktree., (Cork); I w.. so ordered b; M^ey a^" 
DuUj' ; I was told to go to Millstreet and see the " Centre" tter^ 
a man named Kearney ; that he would give me instioictions how 

Keny; I was desired to teU O'Connor about the rising to take 



HRnrnpanBiilp 



^^gC^S^jl^gjgJ^jj^y^ 



COLONEL THOMAS FEANCTS BOtTEKE. 



:i53 



place on the Sth of March ; in case I could not see O'Connor, 
Kearney was to get me introduced to the "Centre," near Mill- 
town, county Kerry, and I was to take the command ; my party 
was to blow up bridges, tear up the raOs and telegraph wires, and 
"break banks," and if possible, we were to go as far as Rath- 
keale in the county of Limerick ; I saw General Halpin in Dublin 
before I left for the south ; I also saw the other man Bourke ; I 
received £3 from Duffy before I left ; I went to Millstreet on the 
4th of March ; I saw Kearney ; he told me to go back to the city 
of Cork and see a man named Michael Murphy, who would pro- 
bably give me nstructions about O'Connor ; I went to Cork that 
night ; I saw Michael Jlurphy ; he sent me to Dominick Mahony, 
the Head Centre for Cork ; did not see Massey in Cork ; M'Mahon 
told me he was in Cork at that time ; I saw Captain O'Brien, 
Captain Condon and others in Cork ; Condon was in MiUtary 
command at Cork ; he told me to go to Middleton ; I remained 
in Cork tiU Monday, the 4th of March; I left by the morning 
train ; I met Massey's messenger ; he told me that Massey was 
coming by the 12 o'clock train to Limerick Junction ; I came 
to Dublin, and arrived about 4 o'clock ; I went to the Lower 
Castle Yard, and gave mformation to the authorities; I saw 
Massey next a prisoner ; I first began to give infonnation to the 
authorities m Liverpool in September, 1866. 



On the 1st of May, the Chief Jnstice charged the 
jury, which after having been out from half-past three 
to five minutes before six o'clock, brought in a verdict 
of guilty. Having been asked the usual question, if he 
had anything to say why judgment and execution 
should not be pronounced, the prisoner, says the re- 
port, who spoke throughout in a clear, firm and im- 
pressive manner, and whose style of expression was 
manifestly that of a man who possessed a refined and 
educated mind, said : 



■yi-rllt^'»|-|i^WW.I 



154 



FEKIA.V HEROES AND JUETTE8. 



My Lords, it is not my intention tr, 
in answering the question why the se^t "''"'^ ""* "^ ^""^ ««»« 
"^o- be passed on n.e. But I LaV ! S" °'^'" ^"""^ ^'^'^^^ ^^t 
a ntle of the evidence that ha. S bro^ IT ''"^''''°^' ^^^^ 
evidence that I would speak of I hat of f^ ^ "'' '"''^ '^'"'^ «"» 
had the conversation wi h me i^, r "^^^-^^^P-^^or Kelly, who 
tl^at he asked either ^BoTZmTT'^^'"'''^- ^e^t.te^ 
fr>end Stephen^ and thatl mfde ans^"'^ 1" " ^** ^^^^^ -^ 
^olued n.n that ever had been or evT t' ''''^"*^« -°^ 
Here, standing on the brink of^ ° '"""''^ ^^ ^ A««^«a. 

Almighty and Ever-LiviTi^d n "^T "" ""= P'-^«'^°«« of the 
P-^-y that ever man Svelte'.?,"" ""^^ " '''''' ''' '^^^^ 
everoccun^L The naTe of Se ' w ^° «"^^ ^"'^-ez.ation 
pass from that, and then touch on the "f '"" "-^"tioned.. 1 shafl 
tJ-t I assisted in distributS^the br^a/trfr" "'''""• ^<^ ^^'- 
that I stood with him in the ^7.!^ ° P^"""^' ^ *« tort,' and 

-a.notinthefortatthetoeltfllw"'- '^''^"^ '^'^ ^alse. J 
^as being distributed. I came £ Jft °°' "^^'^ ^^«° 'he bread 

fons have been made, and s^b^tt^T'''^ Bothof these asser- 
-y life ^sted, a. evidence, ml ' ? t r^" " "^"^^ ^^^ 
Bolelyandp„«,yfo,t,^^^^J on oath, ^7 these men-made 

P-ave. (The prisoner her^^Seml v^^^r ""l ""^ *" ^ ""'^^ 
a almiebilof paperinhi^hafron C^/f^* h« n-emo^, looked 
of the evidenceduring the trianTh^'''''^^*^«"«f«^ notes 
«>athavebeenswon.tohe,.rtoiover"'"'°^P°^'^> -y'ords, 
act., it has been alleged I too/Zin'^'r'''"''^^''^-*'"^ 
^y lords, to give utterance to o^wl '' " ""' ""^ '^--^ -wf ' 
^as been pronounced upon me LT t/"""'' ^"^-^ ^'^''^ -^ch 
as a man, which has never hL ^ conscious of my honor 

can go into my grave S a n melT:'-'""^ ^°°-'''- t>^ " T 
only say this: that these paLeraet'lfr^*- "-nl»ed-I can 
o^™ aggrandizement, or to Jve St 1^ '''''^^''''''''■°' their 
pandered to the appetite if T P"^' "^erable lives, have 

ness of my eve^-act in 00^,^:^,!° J 'f'^'^^ of the rightLs! 

-em in Ireland, I have nothS Te^ nT'T''''^ """- 

° -— S that wo.d WuTthTbT^- -- --ot 



■iittMi 



COLONEL THOMAS FEANCI8 BOUEKB. 



155 



tie my brow ; my conduct and career, both here and in America^ 
If you like, as a soldier-are before you, and even in this my hour 
of tnal^ I feel the consciousness of having lived an honest man ; and 
I m^ d.e proudly, believing that if I have given my life to give 
freedom and liberty to the land of my birth, I have done only ttat 
which every Irishman and eveiy man whose soul throbs with a feel- 
ing of hberty should do. I, my lords, shall scarcely-I feel I should 
not at all-mention the name of Massey. I feel I should not pollute 
my hps with the name of that traitor, whose illegitimacy has been 
proved here; a man whose name even is not known, and who' I 
deny pomt-blank, ever wore the star of a colonel in the Confede- 
rate army. Him I shall let rest I shall pass him, wishing him. 
m the woi-ds of the poetr— ^^ 

"May the graBs -Blther from his feet; 
May the woods deny him shelter-earth, a home • 
Theashosagrave; theeunhlBllght; ' 

And Heaven its God." 

Let Jlassey remember from this day forth, he carries with him. aa 
my learned and eloquent counsel (Sir. Dowse) has stated, a serpent 
ttat will gnaw his conscience-will cany about with him m his 
breast a living hell, from which he can never be sepamted. L my 
lords, have no desire for the name of a martyr. I seek not the death 
of a martyr ; but if it is the will of the Almighty and Omnipotent 
God that my devotion to the land of my birth should" be tested on 
the scaffold, I am wUhng there to die m defence of the ri-ht of men 
to free govemraent-the right of an oppressed people to throw off 
the yoke of thi-aldom. I am an Irishman by buth, an American 
by adoption, by nature a lover of freedom, and an enemy to that 
power that holds my native land in the bonds of tyranny It has so 
often been admitted thai the oppressed have a right to throw off the 
yoke of oppression, even by English statesmen, that I deem it unne- 
cessaiy to advert to that fact in a British court of justice. Ireland's 
children are not-never were— and never will be— willing or sub- 
missive slaves, and so long as England's flag covere one inch of 
L-ish soil, just so long wiU they beUeve it to be a Dhine right "to 
conspu-e, imagine and devise " means to hui-1 it from power, and 
erect m its stead the God-like structure of self-government. Before 



156 



FKWK DEEOES Am> MAETTM. 



o^'°T74t::'j, t;::,:r ™p^';'^- ^^^ t.at i .., to dispo. 

gift-tLe thanks- he st '^ a.?'"'"' '""""'' ^ "^'^^ "-' P-' 
-an; I offer hin, too, " rna" e ST' • '^"'" °^' "" ^--' 
I^^^h people. I know th^t I am Tr ^""'^ "^^ '^'''"^' ^^ "'^ 
JHend, in fact-three thousanZt rZ^ ^^'^^^-^^'^-^ « 
know that I am not forgotten tha7 TI ^ ""^ ^''^^^- ^"t ^ 

hean of America to-dav feels for t,% ^'^ ^■'^' ^"'^ generous Lish 
'^ot fo^et the man who is wU^X / Tf^'^^^ ^'^' ^nd does 
anU,_p„,u^^ conscious oT^"^^:*^.''^ «caffold-aye, defi- 
Pimciple^ln defence of iibertv TTtT!'' .""'"' "*" ^'"erican 
Mr. OXogMen-aU my counsl' one of ' ^ ^ ''""' '^^ ^°--' 
Cumn-and my able solicTtof 1 T ''^'" ^'"^ ' "''''''^ ^r. 
individnaUy and coUectiverL ^"^'^^^I «tam to them, 
shaJI now, my lords, TjoL7 "^^ ^'"''^* "'^"ks. I 

■ ^-ratteLnSreriT ^o^d^S::!^"^^^^ ■ 

on to that home where soitows a^e It an T\ ^ '''"" ""^ '°°^ 
I shaU hope a^d pmy that fceTom T '"'-^^'^'^ J°y i« eternal 
down.t«Hiden country. Thafk ITh "^ ^'' •'''™ ''^ "^ P<«r 
1^ wonb I shall utt^r wi 1 b1 ^2 Z T' ""^ P^^"' ^d the 
a prayer for poor old Le "ni T'"" """^ '"^ forgiveness, and 
other man, Co^-don, I .Si makfaT' "' '"'^' " ^^'^«°° ^ ">« 
I SO to Ootydon, I should sa^ much l T'"^' ^^^^''P^ '^'^'^^ 
Of Colonel KeUy, and of the ^21"!:^ ''°'^° °° '^"^ '^^'^ ' 
jn London. I desh. to state, I ntver Sew .'""^" " '°'^^ 
lodgings were, and I never knew Jh , . ''" ^°'°"«J belly's 
heard the infonner, Maslev aZ "^ '^ ^°°*°' '^^^ I 

tended a meeting a'tcS LeCld I't'^- ^"--*- 
nienta abo« hhn, that has beJllZ , "°*''^ °*^' ^t^te- 

gentlemen of the jurv I n„w ^ f ^°"^ '"'"^^^'P^' '^d to you. 

unfomaded and fre°from CZ^T"'! "^ '^^^ '"^ ^^y 
-.all paper that was introduS ^ id"b ^ "^''"°" ^ «^« 
evidence, as havmg been found n ^'^""^' ^g^'^st me, as 

that oath, Idesi«°u,t; S. pap^wTT^ ^ ^°--«- -ith 
and I k,ew no person wLose name .1 0°°*/°""'' "'^ ""^ Pe-on. 
o-ub.. or.oseo.er pe^oryoThTai-- ->-^. 



COLONEL TII0MA8 FEAJTCIS BOUEKE. 



157 



nor met That paper has been put in there for some purpose. I 
can swear positively it was not in my hand writing ; I can also 
swear I never saw it, yet it is used as evidence against me. Is this 
justice ? Is this right ? Is this manly ? I am willing, if 1 have 
transgressed the laws, to suflfer the punishment ; but I object to this 
system of trumping up a case, to take away the life of a human 
being. True, I ask for no mercy. My present cmp.ciated form— 
my constitution somewhat shattered— it is better that my life should 
be brought to an end, tlian to drag out a miserable existence in the 
prison pens of Portland. Thus it is, my lords, I accept the veidict. 
Of course my acceptance of it is unnecessary ; but I am satisfied 
with it. And now I shall close. True it is there are many feelings 
that actuate me at this moment. In fact, these few disconnected 
remarks can give no idea of what I desire to state to the court. I 
have ties to bind me to life and society, as strong as any man In 
this court, I have a family I love as much as any man in this 
court does iiis. But I can remember the blessing received from an 
aged mother's lips, as I left her the last time. She spoke as the 
Spartan mother did — "Gro, my boy. Return either with your 
shield or upon it." This reconciles me. This gives me heart I 
submit to my doom, and I hope that God will forgive me my past 
sins. I hope, too, that inasmuch as He has for seven hundred 
years, preserved Ireland, notwithstanding aU the tyranny to which 
she has been subjected, as a separate and distinct nationality. He 
will also retrieve her fallen fortunes — to rise in her beauty and her 
majesty, the sister of Columbia, the peer of any nation in the world. 



The prisoner here ceased, and stepped back from the 
front of the dock, just as calmly as he had advanced 
to it, but -(vith perhaps a slight additional lustre in his 
eye, and a heightened color. Throughout he never 
hesitated for a word, but spoke slowly, distinctly and 
deliberately, to the end. He was listened to through- 
out with breathless anxiety. A muiTuur of applause 
and delight with his eloquent and touching address, 



158 



FEOTAN HEE0E8 AXD MAETYE8. 



arose amid the audience, as lie stepped baclc, but it 
■was, of course, instantly suppressed by the officials. 

The sentence of the law for high treason was then 
pronounced, that the prisoner be hanged, di'awn and 
quartered, on "Wednesday, the 29th May. 

In appearance, Thomas Francis Bourke was strik- 
ing, even though enfeebled by disease. About five feet 
ten inches in height, with a slight stoop recently 
contracted, his earnest manner gave his actions a 
spirit of enthusiasm which was greatly heightened by 
his eye (full but not prominent), when anjithing 
occurred to stir his natural genius. He was deeply 
imbued with a religious feeling, both of sentiment and 
action. On the night before his trial he wrote the 
following strong, touching, and beautiful letter : 



Deaelt Beioted Motitee : Long before this r?ache9 you, my 
sentence, I pie uine, will have been made known to the American 
woild by the Atlantic cable. This is the night before my trial, 
and what that sentence may be I do not know ; but I am resigned 
and prepared to meet, in a manner that becomes your eon and 
my own manhood, whatever God in his mercy has destined for me. 
in Him are all my hopes, and He will not desert me in my hoiu' 
of trial, nor you in your dce|) affliction ! O, my dear, dear mother I 
there is only one thought that almost unmans me, and that is, I, 
who was only happy in youi- happiness, should, in your declining 
years, cause you even a moment's pang of sorrow 1 But, as this 
transitory life is at best, but a vale of tears and suffering, you 
have before your eyes the grief and unspeakable affliction of that 
Holy Mother who gave up her Divine Son to crucifixion for 
{he redemption of man's immortal soul ; and she who is now a 
mother to me, will be to you the Kefuge and Comforter of the 
Afflicted. 



COLONEL THOMAS FEANC18 BOmiKE. 



159 



Again, here is the record of a loving thought and 
comforting fact : 

"I have carefully guarded and preserved the Agnui Dei which 
you suspended round my neck at our parting * * » On 
last Easter Sunday I partook of Holy Communion at a late Mass. 
I counted the difference of time between this longitude and yours, 
for I Isnew that you and my dear sisters were partaking of the 
Sacrament at early Mass on that day, as was your wont, and I felt 
that our souls were in communion together 1" 

' As anything relating to the young hero is enter- 
taining, 'and especially all that illustrates his internal 
nature, the following reminiscences of one who obtain- 
ed admission into his cell in Kilmainham Jail, while 
under sentence of death, will be particularly appro- 
priate and interesting : 

" A warder paced without in the passage. I w'ent 
over and looked witliin, and lying on a hammock, 
with a little table beside him, upon which stood a 
crucifix, a vase of holy water and some books, waa 
the nearest of the ' Irish felons' to death. 

" His quick eye noted me at once. He had a book 
in his hand. He laid it down. He raised himself by 
a cord attached to the lower end of his couch. I 
took it as an invitation to enter, and I beckoned the 
warder. 

" The door was unbarred, and I walked forward. 
A few words were responded by me, and I sat down. 
The hammock in which he lay was s\vung from iron 
hooks fastened in the walls of his cell, and extended 
transversely across that apartment. Beyond was the 
straw pallet in which the prisoner used to lie at night. 



rll-FitTiTiMiffiir"''''*'''™'' '■""'^ 



ICO 



FEJsTAil HEROES AiO) MAETTRS. 



The boot wliicli he had been reading on my entrance 
lay open upon the conch. I looked at its heading, 
and it was the ' Preparation for Death,' by St. Alphon- 
Bus Ligoiiri. 

" I saw no change in Thomas Bourke the condemned 
and Thomas Bourke on trial. Self-possessed and 
calm as ever, he spoke quietly, firmly and gently. 
His observations were given almost invariably in 
reply. In the life of the informers he could see noth- 
ing worth 'living for, when they had outlived their 
honor and foreswore their oaths ; so he gave his dictum, 
and I believed him. I spoke of his worn and'enfeebled 
state of health, for I had special reasons for so doing. 
He told me it was his souvenir of a gallant fight ; two 
bullet wounds had passed through his leg near the 
upj)er thew of the thigh. The hospitals were crowd- 
ed with wounded, and although he got as much 'care 
as possible,' still he was not so well cared as, ' under 
other circumstances he would be ;' and the muscles of 
his leg sloughed away, until, he said, when the wound 
healed, " the skin alone covered the bone." And so, 
truly, it was; from his thigh to about ten inches 
above the knee there was only the bone covered with 
thin and seamed skin. There was one topic more 
upon which I started, and that was the most import- 
ant topic — death was near him. I shall not toll how 
I neared that great subject, but well I remember his 
reply. ' There is a little book,' he said, ' which has 
taught me much, and one thing it has taught me 
beyond all ; the longest life is not the best life. You 
read,' he said, 'the Imitation of Christ,' An hour 



COLONEL TnOMAS FEANCIS BOUEKE. 



161 



goes by very fast in the cell of a man whose hours are 
numbered by the law, and my hour with Thomas 
Bourke fleeted faster than I dreamed. Much he spoke, 
and much I learned fi-om others of him, but all h& 
said only fixed the picture I drew of him deeper in 
my mind, that a better and nobler soul never existed 
upon the earth, 

" They have spread reports of his bearing 'and 
treatment since his imprisonment, which are neither 
respectable fiction nor stray fact. It has been asserted 
that he has left a wife and family in New York ; that 
he has been allowed every delicacy which he required, 
and nothing has been refused to him ; that the Sisters 
of Charity were in constant .attendance upon him— 
and to aU those assertions I give a flat contradiction. 
Thomas Bourke never was married, he has no wife, no 
children. He leaves behind him in America a dear 
^nd venerable mother, and as dear sisters, and of all 
of whom he was the prop and stay. When he was 
convicted and sentenced he was placed npon the diet 
which the law allows, and no more, and. that diet is 
lut hread and water. Afterwards, he received the 
diet of the ordinary prisoners, and no other delicacy. 
The Sisters of Charity never were in attendance upon 
him ; but the Sisters of Mercy, from Goldenbridge, 
visited him upon one of the last days of his stay at 
Kilmainham, and I believe did so at the request of the 
Very Eev. Mr. Kennedy, the chaplain of the jaiL 
]Sow, little as all those items in the strange eventful 
history of General Thomas Bourke may seem, there is 
a necessity that there should be no mistake about 



162 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AOT) MAETTKB, 



tliem • and wlien I add that his manner, liis kindliness, 
his gentleness, and his unobtrusive courage impressed 
all ai-ound himwith a high idea of his character, I 
have given to public record much, though not all, ot 
what I learned in anhour in the jail and cell of Thomas 
Bourke when he lay there condemned to die." Subse- 
quently the sentence of death was commuted to 
perpetual impriBonment. 



COLONEL THOMAB J. KELLT, 



163 



COLONEL THOMAS J. KELLT. 

-Fllee from TenneBBee for h>B Un^on ^^''^-;f°^'^^^^^l, Stoff-Health 
AimB of the " ProTiBioiial Govenunent. 

Colonel Tho^8 Jame8 Kellt, whose name is bo 
frequently aUuded to in the evidence .of Massey, and 
who became Chief Organizer after the retirement of 
Stephens is ^ man of marked ability, various resources 
and untiring energy ; a clear thinker, and a sagacious 
worker, he has also displayed a very remarkable 
adroitness in his movements in England and Ireland. 
While managing the details of the organization, he 
has baffled the watchfulness of the authorities, and 
even when his residence was betrayed to the Govern- 
ment, he managed by that restless foresight which 
amounts to intuition, to change his whereabouts and 
to evade up to the present the attentions of the police. 
The dangers through which he passed m America, as 
an officer in the signal service during the war, concen- 
trated the self-rehance which has been of such use to 
him in the service of Ireland. A foUower of the art 
preservative of all arts, the knowledge gamed as a 



,js^^'^^j^S3Ss/i~-^ 



164 



FESTAN HEROES AND MAETTES. 



printer and journalist has stood liim in good need on 
the emergencies into which his patriotic duties led 
him. 

Thomas J. Kelly was born in Mount Bellew, county « 
Galway, ia 1833. His father belonged to the farm- 
ing class and brought up his son for the Church. On 
this account he received a better education than is 
generally the lot of young men in similar circum- 
stances, l^ot having a vocation for the clerical 
profession, his father wisely bound him to the printing 
business in Loughrea. Finding the prospects before 
him too circumscribed for his aspiring mind, young 
Kelly started for America, and arrived in New York 
when but eighteen years of age. Like most young 
men on their first arrival here, he had to encounter 
those buifetings which almost invariably fall to the 
lot of the inexperienced in a new country ; but with 
his usual persevering industry, he overcame them, and 
got good employment at his profession as printer. He 
soon rose in the estimation of his employers and in 
the good opinion of his brother craftsmen, among 
whom he was quickly distinguished for his integrity 
and ability. He was a prominent and active member 
of the Printer's Union, and members of the craft now 
refer to him as another evidence of the ability which 
distinguish Printers when they enter public life. The 
eminence to which the followers of Guttenberg and 
Faust, of Etienne, and Caxton, have arisen, is a favor- 
ite and prolific theme with the crafts-brethren. This is 
not to be wondered at, or checked, when we consider 
the philosophers, poets and historians, on the muster- 



COLONEL THOMAS J. KELLT. 



165 



roll — the Franklins, Berangers, Michelets, and in our 
own days, the Greeleys, Colfaxes, and others, not to 
mention those of a military turn, like Marechal 
.^ Prune, who, graduating from the composing stick to 
the baton of France, distinguished himself by driving 
the English and Eussians from Holland, and against the 
Austrians on the plains of Italy. Truly may the 
printers be proud of the men who have done honor to 
the profession, and it was extremely pleasing in this 
connection to hear some of the craft refer to KeUy, as 
one who illustrated the force ef character, ready 
resources, sagacity and honesty, which are claimed as 
characteristic of its best representatives. 

On his arrival in New York, young Kelly, having a 
predisposition for military matters from boyhood, waa 
delighted with the advantages offered by the National 
Guard, and companies of citizen soldiery. He of 
course joined a military organization, and in time 
identified himself with every movement tending to 
exalt his countrymen in the social and moral scale. 
The moment a true young Irishman gets a weapon into 
Lis hand, his first thought is for Ireland, and the more 
he learns the use of it, the more intense is his desire 
to use it against England. Kelly had this natural 
feeling, and became an active member of the Irish 
Society which had produced the Fenian Brotherhood — 
that known by the significant title of " The Emmet 
Monument Association." 

In 1857, at the recommendation of some friends. 
Ml-. Kelly went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he 
Boon afterwards started the NashviUe Democrat^ which 



166 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETTKB. 



ably supported the Presidential claims of that noble 
patriot, Stephen A. Douglas, during the exciting polit- 
ical campaign of 1860. 

Mr. Kelly continued to be a warm and fearless 
• supporter of the Union cause, and when the rebellion 
broke out he was obliged to leave. These were the 
terrible days when terrorism ruled in Teimessee, and 
when the Legislature in secret session, and without 
waiting for the people to vote on the question of seces- 
sion, placed the power of the State at the disposal of 
the " Southern Confederacy." By the machinery of 
mobs and vigilance committees dextrously worked, 
night and day, thousands of Union men were forced 
to fly from the State. " We have seen scores of the 
best men of Tennessee," said a competent authority, 
writing at the time, " within the last few days, and 
they all bear witness that in their belief, the reign of 
terror now raging and maddening in that State, has 
had no parallel in modern history. There is less of 
personal freedom, there is more of atrocious and horri- 
ble tyranny in Tennessee at this time, than would be 
found under the worst and most wretched government 
of Asia, or the savage islands of the sea." At this 
time, Kelly was the last man to fly the starry flag in 
Nashville, over his printing office, and he had to fly 
so precipitately that he was unable to save his proper- 
ty, and therefore was again thrown on the world with 
nothing but his own strong will and industrious 
perseverance to rely upon. But he was not disheart- 
ened. He saw that a great war was in its inception, 
and that patriotism should meet its just reward. His 



COLONEL THOMAS J. KELLT. 



167 



miUtary spirit added to the feelings engendered by his 
treatment as a Union man. The declaration of 
Colonel Corcoran in New York, tendering the 69th 
Kegiment for the defence of the Union, and calling for 
recruits, reached him, and he started with the inten- 
tion ot going to New York and joining it. When 
he arrived at Cincinnati, he heard of the enrollment 
of the 10th Ohio, an Irish regiment, and immediately 
joined its ranks as a private, and at the expiration of 
the three months' service, he re-enlisted for the war. ^ 

He had seen some active service in Western Virginia 
in his first campaign, and was severely wounded in 
one of the battles that followed. He was immediate- 
ly promoted to a Second Lieutenancy for gallant and 
meritorious conduct, but his wound rendered him unfit 
for service for some time. When able to return to his 
regiment he was selected for duty as Signal Officer on 
General Thomas' staflT, with rank of Captain, a distinc- 
tion which speaks for itself, especiaUy when conferred 
' by so able and discerning a commander. 

The signal service was one of great importance, tad 
imminent danger. From the nature of its proceedings 
little publicity was given to them. Tact, sagacity, 
quick perception, and persistency under all obstacles, 
were the requisites to make or distinguish an officer in 
this service. Oftentimes the signal officers, accom- 
panied only by a few men, had to occupy a prominent 
isolated position on a mountain or hill, to telegraph 
their signals or respond to others. These positions 
were frequently exposed to rebel raids, and the officers 
were often overpowered or killed. 



1G8 



FENIAN HEEOES ANB MAETTE8. 



FEOTAN KEEOES AND MAETTE8. 



169 



Captain Kelly discharged the duties of his position 
to the entire satisfaction of General' Thomas, who 
complimented him for his ability and zeal. In camp 
he was a great favorite with his brother oflBcers, on 
account of his agreeable manner, in their social hours, 
and his daring disposition in times of danger, made 
him relied on by the men. His regiment was finaUy 
mustered out of the service, having served its time 
honorably. 

Ahnost broken down by hardships and exposure, 
Captain Kelly was unfit for active duty, and he retired 
with his r^ment to recuperate. 

About this time when he had helped to saVe the 
Republic of his adoption, circumstances led him to 
place his experience in the cause which designed to 
make a republic in his native land. By so doing he 
doubtless interfered materially with his foture pros- 
pects, as he was ofi-ered promotion in the American 
service, and declined it to further the cause of Irish 
liberty. Being present at the Chicago Fair, to raise 
funds m aid of the Irish movement, he received much 
information concerning the progress of republican 
Ideas m Ireland, and the desire of the Fem-an Broth- 
erhood there to take the field. He was so much 
impressed with what he heard, andbeUeving he would 
be of positive benefit from the training he had under- 
gone, he made up his mind to join the struggling band 
came to New York, and placed himself and his expe^ 
rience at the disposal of the Brotherhood, 

The result was, Captain Kelly was dispatched to 
Ireland as an envoy, the first who was sent in a miK- 



tary capacity. Accredited to Mr. Stephens, the inter- 
view had a special influence on the future of both. 
They were immediately struck with each other. 
Kelly beheld an untiring, restless conspirator, with 
capacity to sway rnen's minds, in Stephens ; Stephens 
acknowledged the blunt, honest and capable soldier, in 
Kelly. Becoming convinced of the power and influ- 
ence of James Stephens, and fimding him master of 
the occasion, Kelly became his devoted adherent. 
He was at once set to work, and deputed to make 
an inspection of the state of things in Ireland, and 
report on them on his return. His report was fully 
satisfactory. He stated that he was amazed at the 
ramifications of the Brotherhood in Ireland, and could 
not have believed it, only he had convinced himself by 
actual observation. 

In all his transactions Kelly exhibited such a clear- 
ness of perception, and vigor of thought, such integrity 
of purpose and energy, that Stephens quickly recog- 
nized him as an invaluable agent -in carrying on bis 
organization scheme. He was employed in various 
offices, sometimes in visiting circles in diferent sections 
of the country, at other times in assisting Stephens in 
the executive management of afiairs at home. 

During these trying and dangerous missions the cool- 
ness and courage of the signal officer, were constantly 
brought into play, and he labored with a secrecy and 
caution that baffled the most vigilant detectives. 

On the arrest of James Stephens, Capt. KeUy had 
to exert himself with unceasing ability. He had to 
meet the different centres who were impatient to 



wi^mmmmim 



170 



COLONEL THOMAS J. KELLT. 



commence operations on the occasion, and to calm or 
make controlable the excitement that existed. The 
promises of support from America were so flattering 
that he did not think it prudent to give his consent to 
a rising then. Stephens, too, was opposed to an out- 
"break under the circumstances. 

Captain Kelly supervised, if he did not originate 
the plans for Stephens' escape, which were so success- 
ful. The arrangements were admu-ably prepared, 
and Kelly, with a few friends, received the liberated 
prisoner outside of the jail walls, and conducted him to 
a place of safety, and baffled all search for him. 

Most of the leaders were now in prison or sentenced 
to penal servitude. Kelly's activity bordered on the 
marvelous. He had to meet the diflFerent centres from 
the country to make their reports for it would create 
suspicion if too many were seen to visit the retreat of 
the Chief. 

Of course, the particulars of the transactions of this 
period, or of Captain Kelly's important services 
cannot now be published. Suffice it to say, that he 
did good work which fully met the approval of the 
leading minds of the Brotherhood. When it became 
necessary for Stephens to visit this country to try and 
heal dissensions and unite all lovers of Ireland, all the 
preliminary arrangements were made by Captain 
Kelly. How he effected his object is fully stated in 
the following interesting letters : 

Paeis, March 21, 1866. 

:Mt Deae , When I parted from you on Tuesday night, yon 

hadnt much idea of the heavy task before me. Yet now that all 






FENIAN HEKOES AND MAETTE8. 



171 



is over it appears only to be a dream. Although you thought Mr. 
Stephens had left the country, he was in Dublin untU that mght, 
and, spite of aU the vigilance of British spies, he left his lodgings 
on an outside car, got on board a vessel in the Liffey, and saUed for 
an English port. 

It was amusing to me to see him pass several policemen on the 
quays, and walli deUberately on board. We were three days m 
the Channel owing to bad winds. We ultimately reached a port in 
Scotland, slept aU night m Kilmarnock, rode in the maU tram 
next day from there to London, slept in London, and (in the 
morning, m the heart of the enemy's city), after sleeping all mght 
in a hotel across the street from Buckingham Palace (in thePal«» 
Hotel), started by the mommg train from the Victoria Station for 

Dover. ' ,. _» 1 

We got on board the French mail steamer there about eleven 
o'clock on Sunday, and started for Calais, which we reached in 
safety. Wasn't my mind happy when I touched French soil, and 
saw the Chief Organizer of the Irish RepubUc m a position to 
laugh at the blindly-mad, childUke eflforta of the British to capture 

him. , £• u r ' \k 

After all the searches of ships and steamers outside of the Inan 
coast, so weU were we informed of their every movement, that the 
affair was comparatively easy. The next time that James Stephens 
touches the Iiish soil, he will show the British that their barbarouB 
treatment of Irish patriots but added fuel to the national flame 
aheady kindled aU over the island, mstead of "stamping it out, 
as they propose to do. Sir Hugh Bose wUl find when he attempts 
to commit such devihsh barbarities as those of which he was guilty 
m India, that he has not Sepoys to deal with. Let him order his 
soldiers to butcher women and childien and gray-haired old men 
(as he threatened to do), and blow our soldiers from the cannon s 
mouth— let him dare cany out his black-hearted intentions toward^ 
the women of Ireland, and there will be such a retribution, not 
alone m Ireland, but m the heart of the British empke, as will not 
be paraUeled in history. The enemy left no stone unturned to 
make us fight before we were ready ; they played a desperate card 

and lost. Just wait and see the effect of the anival of Mr. Stephens 



170 



COLONEL THOMAS 3. KELLT. 



commence operations on tlie occasion, and to calm or 
make controlable the excitement that existed. The 
promises of support from America were so flattering 
that he did not think it prudent to give his consent to 
a rising then. Stephens, too, was opposed to an out- 
break under the cireumstances. 

Captain Kelly supervised, if he did not originate 
the plans for Stephens' escape, which were so success- 
ful. The arrangements were admii*ably prepared, 
and Kelly, with a few friends, received the liberated 
prisoner outside of the jail walls, and conducted him to 
a place of safety, and baffled all search for him. 

Most of the leaders were now in prison or sentenced 
to penal servitude. Kelly's activity bordered on the 
marvelous. He had to meet the different centres from 
the country to make their reports for it would create 
suspicion if too many were seen to visit the retreat of 
the Chief. 

Of course, the particulars of the transactions of this 
period, or of Captain Kelly's important services 
cannot now be published. Suffice it to say, that he 
did good work which fully met the approval of the 
leading minds of the Brotherhood. When it became 
necessary for Stephens to visit this country to try and 
heal dissensions and unite all lovers of Ireland, all the 
preliminary arrangements were made by Captain 
Kelly. How he effected his object is folly stated in 
the following interesting letters : 

Paeis, March 21, 1866. 

My Deab , When I parted from you on Tuesday night, you 

had'nt much idea of the heavy task before mc Yet now that all 



FENIAN HEEOES AND MAETTES. 



171 



is over it appears only to be a dream. Although you thought Mr. 
Stephens had left the country, he was in Dublin until that night, 
and, spite of all the vigilance of British spies, he left his lodgings 
on an outside car, got on board a vessel in the Liffey, and sailed for 
an English port. 

It was amusing to me to see him pass several policemen on the 
quays, and walk deliberately on board. We were three days in 
the Channel owing to bad winds. We ultimately reached a port in 
Scotland, slept all night in Kilmarnock, rode in the mail trahl 
next day from there to London, slept in London, and (in the 
morning, in the heart of the enemy's city), after sleepmg all night 
in a hotel across the street from Buckmgham Palace (in the Palace 
Hotel), started by the morning train from the Victoria Station for 
Dover. ' ' ' 

We got on board the French mail steamer there about eleven 
o'clock on Sunday, and started for Calais, which we reached in 
safety. Wasn't my mind happy when I touched French soil, and 
saw the Chief Organizer of the Irish Eepubhc in a position to 
laugh at the blindly-mad, childlike efforts of the British to capture 
him. 

After all the searches of ships and steam'ers outside of the Irish 
coast, so well were we informed of their every movement, that the 
affair was comparatively easy. The next time that James Stephens 
touches the Iiish soil, he will show the British that theu- barbarous 
treatment of Irish patriots but added fuel to the national flame 
already kindled all over the island, instead of " stamping it out," 
as they propose to do. Sir Hugh Rose will find when he attempts 
to commit such devilish barbarities as those of which he was guUty 
in India, that he has not Sepoys to deal with. Let him order his 
soldiers to butcher women and chUdi-en and gray-haired old men 
(as he threatened to do), and blow our soldiers from the cannon's 
mouth— let him dare carry out his black-hearted intentions toward^ 
the women of Ireland, and there will be such a retribution, not 
alone in Ireland, but m the heart of the British empke, as wUl not 
be paralleled in history. The enemy left no stone unturned to 
make us fight before we were ready ; they played a desperate card 
and lost. Just wait and see the effect of the anival of Mr. Stephens 



172 



CX)LONEL THOMAS J. EELLT. 



In America, and you -mil see I speak correctly. All is Tvell for 
Ireland yet Next Christmas I liave confidence I will dine with 
you as a free and independent citizen oi the Irish Republic. Kind 
remembrance. Yours, et«. 

Thomas J. Kellt. 



Deab Mm 



Paris, Msirch 21. 
■ I have been remiss in not vrriling to yon 



before this. Mr. Stephens and myself arrived here on Sunday 
last. We were enabled to make our trip with great ease. Just 
think how horribly stupid the enemy's agents are, when we were 
enabled to U'avel m the open day through Scotland and Engird— 
to embark at eleven in the day from the harbor of Dover. 

After all the ship-searching, we started from the quays in the 
city of Dublin. Mr. Stephens left his lodgings on an open car, 
and, on my honor, undisguised. We had no easy time in the 
Channel, as we were kept there three days owmg to adverse winds. 
We were driven to Carrickfergus Bay by stress of weather, and it 
was amusing to think how much the Mayor of Belfast would give 
to know what a distinguished ' guest he had. However, as the 
wind changed after being anchored all night, we did not maie a 
call or leave our cards. Tours, Very Sincerely, 

Thos. J. Kellt. 

Arrived in America, Colonel Kelly was the right 
hand man of his chosen chief. On the transfer of the 
management of Fenian affairs, Kelly, by circular of 
the 18th June, 1866, took charge of the Central OflSce. 
Towards the close of the year, the most intense anxiety 
jermeated the Fenian body. Arrests continued to be 
made in Ireland, the hopes of an outbreak were rife. 
Its necessity was argued by the great majority, 
especially of the mihtary men. Among them Colonel 
Kelly was prominent, and when Stephens did not 



FENIAU HEE0E3 JLND MAETTES. 



173 



think the time auspicious, the former called a meeting 
on the 4th January, 1867, the facts of which being 
deemed official, are here given : 

None but Centres and Delegates were admitted, 
and Colonel Kelly laid before the members a state- 
ment of the affairs of the organization, giving an 
account of James Stephens' conduct at the critical 
period when action was expected, pledging at the 
same time that the work was progressing favorably, 
and that the prospects of final success were promising. 

The details of the plans and measures adopted were 
not made public, but the statement that all moneys 
received, were employed in carrying out the great 
work of Ireland's redemption, and that true and effi- 
cient men were ready at their posts for the work 
assigned, gave heart and purpose to the members 
present. Members of the Irish organization were 
present who stated that the men of the old land were 
willing and prepared for the final struggle ; that now 
and hereafter, they would place no confidence in the 
words of this leader or that ; that they at home", 
come what may, were determined to fight for their 
homes and nationality ; that there was nothing left 
for the manhood of Ireland save paupers' graves or 
the emigrant ship ; that their hopes, their honors and 
their lives were doomed forever, unless they succeeded 
in driving the English garrison from Ireland ', and that 
the attempt would be made, come weal or woe. 
Kothing, they said, could be worse than the present 
condition of Ireland, and they are determined, and so 
are the men of L-eland, to put an end to it. The 



174 



COLONEL THOMAS J. KELLY. 



want of action on the part of Stephens, in the face of 
his " uncalled-for promises" was the subject of severe 
criticism and condemnation, though his past services 
and great labors in the cause of Ireland were not 
forgotten or ignored in the disappointment and irritar 
tion of the moment. 

Another meeting of Centres and oflScers of New 
York and vicinity, to the number of five hundred, 
was held on Sunday, the 6th, at which Kelly's action 
was sustained. The report says : 

"When the defection of James Stephens was made known,- 
and the action of Colonel Kelly to sustain the men who had aheady 
gone to maintain the national honor was ascertained, a vote of 
confidence in Colonel Kelly, as weU as a determination to sustain 
the fighting men at home, was unanimously adopted." 

Colonel Kelly was soon on the other side of the 
Atlantic. An outline of his action is given in the 
informer's evidence on Colonel Bourke's trial. It only 
remains to give the following translation of a letter 
which appeared in the Paris Liberie, after the result 
of the rising' in Ireland, on the 5th March, 

Sm : Permit me to say a few words in reply to an article entitled 
"The Insurrection of the Fenians," published by you in the 
Liberie of the 17th of Mai-ch, 1867. M. W. de Foneville, the 
writer of the article in question, is certainly ignorant of our plans, 
our resources, and our principles," affinned in a proclamation ren- 
dered public-by the English, Belgian, and German papers. We 
have wished to eflace from the opinion of the peoples the reproach 
of Castelfidardo, and give to the world a gauge of our Republican 
principles and our social aspirations. That is why we have 
inscribed in capital letters ujwn our proclamation the sentence — 
"We aim at founding a Republic based on universal suffrage 



FEOTAM HEEOEB AOT) MAETTEB. 



175 



which shall secure to aU the mtrinsic value of their labor. The 
national soU, the aboUtion of salaries, and the RT'^^-^^/T^ 
based on universal suffrage, such is what is desired^ by the 
Ireland of 1867, regenerated by the stay of ite exUes in Amer- 
ica. What has that in common with the programme of ^ 
Bright? Not even miiversal suffrage, which he is agamst W 
thei should you fasten us to tiie skutB of one man? We 
are a people and a principle -that is to say, t^etemal and tie 
ThsoJe. Can a principle be vanquished? Why, therefore do . 
yousay wearevanquished? Did not C^s^'^'y^'^T^^r,^^ 
defeats ? Did it not, like us, water the ground with tHe blood of 
its martyrs. Ours yield in nothing to those of ^^^Vr^"":^^, 
and if their voices, stifled m the dmigeons of England, cou^d 
come here to protest against your strange advice, and ^<^^ ^ 
stranger criticisms, not one would use any other language tiaa 
that which I use to you at this m<^ent in their name and m the 
name of all proletarian Ireland. Our movement is only com- 
Zcing, and is not about to finish. As to 6a«te«. we shaU 
avoid instead of seeking them untU we are strmtg erun^^ to 
gain them. As for our alliance with the English Befonners, rtis 
a fait accompli; if you doubt it, you have only to read the r^ 
lutions adopted at the last meetmg. But by Reformei^ we imde^ 
stand those who mean to go radieally to the bottom of the move- 
ment, and not those who officially assume the direction of rt. I 
add that a nation and a principle are strong enough to await aU 
from tune without ever claiming extenuating circumstances, even 
from the generosity of another nation. The insurrection, or ratha 
the revolution, follows the course it ought to follow. Compromised 
lor an instant by the unskilful zeal of some leaders, who, bke us, 
love to give battle, it has resumed its tranquil course; men no 
more die of hmiger and cold than fear the EngUsh flying columns; 
and the reform of Mr. J. Bright will not prevent any member of 
the organization from being at his post, or from domg his duty m 
confoimity with the ordere of the provisional govermnent I avad 
nr'.elf of this circumstance to appeal to the sympathy of the 
ccncrous people of Fi-ance in favor of our cause. I am, &c., 
^ *^ Thomab J. Ekt . t .t. 



176 



COLONEL THOMAS J. KELLT. 



Many details of Colonel Kelly's devotion to tte 
cause of Irisli Liberty cannot be given, as lie is fortu- 
nately " at large " yet, and their relation migbt com- 
promise others as well, whose services in the future 
will doubtless be needed. 



FENIAU HEE0E8 AITO MABTTES. 



177 



CAPTAIN JOHN M'CAFFERTT. 

AiTCBtca— Tried— Half-Alien Jary because he is an American- Acquitted— En- 
voy from Ireland to America— Address at tbe Great Jones' Wood Meeting 
In New York— Goes back— The Affair at Chester-Second Arrest— In the 
Dock— Corydon's Evidence— Found Guilty— Speech in the Dock— In his CelL 

SoAECELT less attention has been directed to Captain 
M'Cafferty, than to any of the Fenian prisoners. The 
fact that he is an American by birth, and the legal 
measures taken, in consequence, by his able counsel, to 
effect his liberation, have kept his case constantly before 
the public, which has lost nothing either by the manly 
style in which the subject has conducted himself. 

The excitement- immediately following the seizure of , 
the Irish People party, 1865, and.the fear of American 
aid, led the Government to watch the steamers. On 
the arrival of the City of Limerick at Queenstown, 
18th September, Captain John M'Cafferty, announ- 
ced as " late of the Confederate army," was arrested. 
From his person was taken a waist belt, with two six- 
* barrelled revolvers, a rifle, and four works upon drill 
One was Brigadier General Silas Casey's Infantry 
Tactics, three volumes ; another. Lieutenant Colonel 
Philip St. George Cook's work on military move- 
ments, with illustrations by Colonel George Patten, 
late United States Army; the third, the "A. B. C." 



178 



CAPTAIN JOHN m'cAFFEETT. 



of SMrmishing and Movements for Infantry, hj Wm. 
Ualton, late Second Eoyal Middlesex Rifles ; and the 
fourth, a School Manual, by Stephen Pinckney, Colo- 
nel Ninety-fifth New Tork National Guard. These 
appearing, as the officials sagaciously said, " to con^- 
tain every information necessary for the management 
of troops," the authorities regarded the ex-Confederate 
Capcain as a very dangerous character, if not a walk- 
ing arsenaL He was remanded, put in prison, billfl 
found against him, and sent for trial to the Special 
Commission, held in 1865, in Cork, charged with felo- 
neously compassing and intending to depose the Queen 
from the style, honor and royal name of the Imperial 
Crown of the United Kingdom ; also, with feloneously 
intending to levy war against the Queen, and of mov- 
ing foreigners with force to invade Ireland- ■* 

The prisoner pleaded not guilty, and his counsel, 
Mr. Butt, claimed that as the prisoner was an ahen, 
half of the jury to try him should be aliens also. The 
Attorney-General requiring to see the foundation of 
the claim, Mr. Butt read a certificate from the District 
Court of Michigan, United States, that the prisoner, 
who had been in the Confederate army, had taken the 
oath of alliance to the United States, in May last. 
He also read the following letter from the United 
States Consul, at Queenstown, to the prisoner, who, ' 
after his arrest, applied to him for his interference : 

United States Consulate, Qtjeenstown, ) 
October 9, 1865. $ 

J. JirCATFEBTT, EsQ.: Sm — I am ia receipt of your communica- 
tion of 7th inBlant, and in reply, I beg to infonn you that, upon 






FENIAN HEROES AND MAETYEB. 



170 

■e.aminationofyouTcaee,Iflna,fiJ,^^^^^^^^^^ 

dusky, State of Ohio; --"jj ^^^J^^^T^ Jamnesty oath ' 
rebel army during the war ; t^ ^a y o ^^^^ ^ ^^ 

in the month of May last; fo^^' ^"* f ^^^ gouthem men to go 
tember, to go to PariB, to get penmssion ^^^^^ ^^ ^ 

to Mexico; fifth, that you -«« f-^^^^^^^g you in a suspicion of 
volye:. and treasonable documen^^ '^^''^y^d. ^^^^^ 

compUcity with treasonable ^^o^^^^^j^'^.y ,« Paris to con- 
youx statement i. true that you -J^ ^ J^^JJ, „,, whether, as - 
Lt with men still disloyal to ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^,^ ^, Fe- 
suspected, you axe an a^en^ ^^ ^^^^d, in either c^e,yon 
nian organization to ra> e ^ rehelhon m ^^ ^, ^^pport from 

have entirely forfeited aU clftuns ^^'^^^ /^ ^^^ of ^lle^. 
the United States Government. 1 return yo y 

ance, and am your obedient servant, ^ ^ EASTMAN. ' 

^.der t^esecircu^n^anc., the G^^^^^^ 

not resist the ^-^^^'^^^^^^'^Ue 16th, counsel 
the prisoner's <^^^''\^^''';^^ j^^tjee, discussed the 

having, at the '^^'^^Z^^t^:^^^'^^^^^^ 
manner inwhach -^^^f^^f^^-p,,,!^^^^^^ said: "Hav- 
hadbeen ^^^^amed, Mr. Justice r g ^^^ 

ing carefully considered ^^^T'^^Ce^.. no evidence 
Lad come to the conclusion that th^e wa 

to sustain an overt -* ^^^^^ ^h^ ,',,id 4ect tie 
after tender amved -P'^^J^^Lcordance, return- 
Jury to ^^^f^^'2n^,ll This fact is important, and 
ed a verdict of ^^"^'''^^f-^..^^ j Meany, who corn- 
bears upon the case o^ f ^f ^^J;, ^ ^r^at Britain, 



\ 



jflf^^iiiiT^'^'^^''-'-^^*-'^'' 



180 



CAPTAIN JOHK u'cAITEEIT. 



quently, on lais way to Dublin, he was tlie object of 
mucli attention and sympathy -wherever, along the 
railway line, the fact of his presence hecaiue known. 
Men and women pressed forward to shake his hand, 
and congratulate him on his release from captivity. 

On his release from prison, Captain M'Cafferty put 
himself in communication with the Fenian Govern- 
ment in Ireland, and was desi>atched by it to America 
to explain the extent of the moveme.it there, and the 
reliance placed in the promise of assistaince. At the 
great mass meeting held in Jones' "Wood, New York, 
after the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, in Feb- 
ruary, at which two hundred thousand persons were 
present. Captain M'Cafferty was introduced as "the 
envoy of the Irish Eepublic, with important despatches 
for the order in this country." He implored his hear- 
ers to stand by the Irish revolutionaiy army, which 
amount to two hundred and fifty thousand men. All 
they wanted was arms and munitions of war. He 
spoke of the discipline which existed, and in the course 
of his remarks said : He could not speak to them as 
eloquently as other gentlemen present could. He was 
only a soldier ; he desired to fight, not to talk. Ii-e- 
land was not even his native country, he was an 
American by bu-th ; but Ireland was now his adopted 
country, and it was her cause he was now pleading. 
He was dealing in no extravagances, he was telling 
them plain facts. Another consideration he would 
impress upon them. In carrying forward the struggle 
which had been inaugurated, they might fail of sue- 
cess. In that case, it would be worthy of every Irish- 



FEKIAS HEEOES AND MAfiTTES. 



181 



man to have something to show that when the strug- 
gle was going on, he had patriotism enough to aid the 
cause of his native land to the extent of his power ; 
let him have some token of his patriotism in this emer- 
gency, to hand down as an heir-loom to his children. 
Of course there were possibilities, though not probar 
bilities, of failure. No one could look into the future 
and predict, with absolute certainty, what would be the 
issue of this contest ; but if, perchance, they should 
fail, the aiders of this movement in America, would 
Lave the assurance that he would, like many of his 
comrades, leave his bones bleaching on the soil of Ire- 

land- 

At this great meeting, resolutions were passed, con- 
demnatory of Mr. Adams, the American Ambassador, 
at London, and Mr. Eastman, Consul at Queenstown, 
for declining to interfere in the case of Captain M'Caf- 
ferty, because he had been in the Confederate service, 
and notwithstanding that the said " Captain M'Cafferty 
has taken the amnesty oath required by the President, 
who thereby cast into obUvion all former acts against 
the Government or authority of the United States, 
and restored said Captain M'Cafferty to the fuU and 
entire rights of American citizenship." 

Captain M'Cafferty attended and addressed the mass 
meetings held in Washington, Philadelphia, and other 
leading cities. At Philadelphia, he said there could 
be no difference of opinion, among those who are m- 
formed on the subject, as to where the blow should be 
struck. The invasion of Canada was not to be thought 
of: It would take three yeai's to compel the surrender 



182 



CAPTAtH JOHN M'CAITEEIT. 



of Quebec, and to obtain the control of tbe St. Law- 
rence. He expected to return to Ireland, He prom- 
ised to do 60, and he would keep his promise. Most 
assm-edly he did. As he said, he was a soldier, and 
only believed in fighting ; consequently he was one of 
those who adhered to the military programme, when. 
Stephens refused to fight in Ireland, and immediately 
started for the theatre of operations. The Attorney- 
General, charging M'CafiTerty with being the chief in- 
strument, if not the originator of the contemplated 
seizure of Chester Castle, gave an outline of his move- 
ments, up to the date of his second arrest, based on«the 
information of Corydon. 

The attack was to have been made on Chester on 
the 11th. of February; but on Sunday information of 
the design was given by Corydon to the authorities, 
who were enabled, in consequence, to take the neces- 
sary precautions. " If that project," said the Attor- 
ney-General, " had been carried out, it would be im- 
possible to exaggerate the disastrous consequences to 
this country which might have followed." M'Cafi'erty 
went to Chester some days before the contemplated 
attack, and took apartments at the King's Head, in 
the name of Frederick Johnstone, and remained tiU 
Monday. On Sunday morning, the 10th, he was vis- 
ited by two men, and later in the evening by seven 
more, "who had all the appearance of Yankees." 
The Government stated that between one thousand 
fuur hundred and one thousand five hundi-ed strangers 
arrived in Chester, by train, fi-om Crewe, and other 
places, but the authorities there were not unprepared. 



FENIAN HEE0E9 AITO MAETTEfl. 



183 



M'Cafferty having ordered dinner for two o'clock, went 
out with Flood, and soon found that the matter was 
blown up. They then disappeared. Before leaving, 
M'Cafi'erty sent a messenger, one Austin Gibbons, to 
countermand the officers who were coming from Liver- 
pool by way of Birkenhead, and to say that the affair 
was 'blown upon. As might be expected, the officere 
found their way one after another to Ireland. On the 
19th February, M'Cafi'erty and Flood landed at the 
port of Whitehaven, in England. They went to a 
hotel, where they stopped tUl the foUowing day, when 
they sailed for Dublin in a coal brig, caUed the New 
Draper. They arrived in Dublin on the 23d day of 
February. Fortunately the authorities were prepared 
beforehand for their arrival, and a watch was kept on 
the New Draper. At each side of the river police were 
stationed, and as the vessel sailed np the river, they 
observed two men di-opping into an oyster boat, which 
was rowed by three men. The police gave chase m a 
feriy boat, and arrested the men as they got into a 
collier They gave their names as William Jackson 
(M'Cafferty) and John Phillips (Flood.) They were 
identified at Mountjoy prison. On being searched m 
the jail, there was found between the cloth and the 
linin<r, a gold ring, which would be produced, contain- 
ing a°photograph, and inside these words: "Erin, I 
love thee and thy patriots, presented to Captam Jolm 
M'Cafi'erty, by the Detroit Circle of the Fenian Broth- 
• ers, as a token of esteem. Detroit, April, 1866." 
When the jury retired, in the case of Thomas F. 
Boui-ke, on the 1st May, M'Cafferty was brought to 



'tTT^mmifl^^^'^ 



iiPPiPIP 



i^^i..^.. 






■^^'^^^^'^'■'*^^*'^°^'''^'''^^ 



184 



CAPTAm JOira M CAITEETr. 



the bar for trial. ITr. Butt applied to the Court for a 
postponement of the trial to the last of the Commission. 
The application was grounded on an affidavit ■which 
■was verified by the prisoner, and which set forth that 
he was born in the State of Ohio, in the United States 
of America, in the year 1838 ; that he was indicted at 
the last Special Commission for the County of Cork, 
when he was ti-ied by a jury half of whom were foreign- 
ers, by whom he was acquitted ; and that there were 
certain official documents of the Republic of the United 
States of America, which he believed he would be able 
to produce, to authenticate his affida'dt, anti which 
were material and necessary for his defence. The At- 
torney-General, for the purpose of the trial, admitted 
the prisoner to be an alien ; when Mr. Butt withdrew 
his motion for postponement, the object of the applica- 
tion having been attained. The trial was proceeded 
with on the following day. He is thus described in 
court : " Captain John M'Cafferty is put forward. I 
look do^wTi at him, as he comes up from where Thomas 
Bourke and Patrick Doran passed in, -with his hat upon 
him, which he now removes. He sits down in his ac- 
customed place, and the case goes on. Few men have a 
face in which determination and symmetry are so much 
blended, as that of John M'Cafferty. It is bronzed, 
too, with the light of battle-fields, where it gleamed 
amidst the lines of Morgan's troops, as they dashed 
along in many a desperate charge. He fixes his gaze 
always intently upon whoever speaks. A witness, or 
a la'wyer, or a judge, or a juror, whenever he opens his 
lips to speak, ■will meet M'Cafferty's eyes. Yet I see, 



^E^^AS HEKOES J^ ^^^ 



185 



.she sits there, that it.no^^tr:i^ 

to do this. He is -f^^X^'^oo^ng at his inter- 
form, and has the sdd.er s W o^t l^^^ ^^^ 
rogator steadily. He^B ^^ ^ .,^, ^ 

The-prmcipal «-den.e ^^^ ^^^^ 

continuation of that given o 

follows: 

toued: I know Jobn M Ca&rty _ ^tToduced to all 

Uie American officers *^'^^«„"'^^%„t,u^ at that time -, he was m- 
tei. of all the Amencan o^-^^^Toi the rebel ^7, who had 
Uodaced to me as Captam M Cafer^ ^^ ^^^ ^^de to me 

served iB Morgan's S-"^;«i^r» Brotherhood; all I knew 
as to his being a member of ^-^^'^ ^^^^ captain Doheny^ 
• at that meeting were Feman I «^^;^,^ed j^^^Flo^ 
GeneralHalpin, Colonel KeBy; »p ^ ^^ ^^^^ ^ 
,e,7 often at Fenian -« " ^^e of Com^aught ; ImetCap^ 
there; he was orgamzer for the provm ^^^^ ^^ 

tain Dum.e at these --^-J^/^se meetings ; Iremain^m 
there; 1 also '"^^ ^'"^"T ^Jf Employed in Fenian business ; Ire- 
Liv, .-pool till Febi^ary, 1867 ^^^^J ,^^ from Captam 

cei' ed pay, while there, out of "'^ ' i gaw M'Cafferty m 

O'Horke; he went by the --^^^^^tomas Bourke, J. J- Bo- 
Februaiy, 1807, m L^^^"^"" ' ^';^^; ^Oi him; 1 first saw him 
L^ Colonel Dmme, and others w«e w^ ^^^ ^^^^ „f the 

^Mfield street, in L-^-J; ths. w^ ^^^^.^^ ^^^ ^^ 
Fenian Brotherhood; ^^^^f ^| t^^y Wd not put up with hrs 
Stephens did not niean to fight, ana y ^'Cafferty was at 

no^ense any longer, -- ^^^^^/^'^^ . M'Cafferty went some- 
tbat meeting, ^^ could hear the^woras ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^, ^ 



^'■^''"'-^'■'-''~tiirlihilll»<iHrfiyifili%W^ 



186 



CAPTAnf JOHN m'cajteett. 



tones ; neither M'Cafferty nor Flood were present ; Captain O'Rorke 
presided at it ; the meeting came to the understanding that Stephens 
did not intend to fight at all; O'Rorke stated that now they had, 
therefore, formed a directory, ■which was to depose Stephens and 
constitute themselves as the authority of the Irish Republic ; he 
further stated that the Head Centre in England (Tlood) had joined 
this directory, as well as Captain M'CaflFerty and himself^ and want- 
ed also to know if the American officers then ui Liverpool, would 
sanction Flood's name and M'Cafferty's name as members of the 
directoiy; the meeting agreed to have Flood and M'Cafferty on the 
directory; I saw the prisoner afterthat, in Liverpool, fixjm the 11th 
to the 19ih Februaiy; there was a meeting of Fenians ; M'Cafierty 
and Flood attended ; they said they came from London,! represent- 
ing the diiectoiy ; that they had brought about twenty poimds to 
be divided among the officers there, to pay their way to Chester; 
they stated that at Chester the castle was to be seized, the arms 
therein to be taken and put into trains, the rails were to be destroy- 
ed after the trains had started, the telegraph wires to be torn ; they 
were to go to Holyhead, seize mail steamer, and go thence to lie- 
land ; the way Captain M'Caflferty stated Uiese plans to the meeting, 
in company with Flood, was — ^the night of the following Monday 
was fixed upon to carry out the plan, all the American offlceiB 
in Liverpool were to go to Chester, as well as the Centres in Liver- 
pool ; a Centre is a colonel ; he has got that rank ; he commands a 
regiment or company ; he is a commander of a circle ; the majority 
of the meeting assented to the plan proposed by John M'Cafferty 
and Flood ; some of the men went to Chester on the Monday I 
gave information to the authorities at Chester; I had been giving 
information since the September before ; I saw the Fenians going 
to Chester by Biikenhead, thence to Monk's Feny, and on to Ches- 
ter ; I went to Birkenhead myself, and remained till one o'clock ; 
I saw at least five hundred Fenians starting from Birkenhead for 
Chester ; while I was getting my ticket at the railway station, a 
man named Gibbons beckoned me to go back ; I went to him, and 
he told me he was directed by Captain M'Cafferty and the Fenian 
authorities, to go back, as the affair in Chester was sold ; all who 
had not gone on to Chester then went back ; there was then a meet- 



ifiiifiTiitfiii"'"'^-!! ,r--"^'^*'-^^'"#iiiit 



^nmmtmi' 



FENIAK HEK0E9 AND MAETTE8. 



187 



ing of the American officers, called at the Zooio^cal Gardens, Ches- 
ter; and we were then directed to come to Ireland, and wait there 
for the final instructions as to the rising in Ireland; I did not see 
M'Cafferty again till I saw him in prison at Kilm ai n ha m ; about a 
week before the rising, I attended a meeting held near the canal, 
in a small street off Brunswick street, in Dublin, at which it was 
announced the rising would take place on the 5th ; I got instruc- 
tions to go to Millstreet, in the county Cork, and see the Centra of 
that district ; that was about the 25th February. / 

Mr. Butt contended that the Attorney-General had no right to 
examine the witness as t« the measures projected at tiie meetang 
referred to. 

The Court ruled from the Crown- 
Examination resumed— At the meeting at the Zoological Gardens, 
there were there Colonel Doheny, Captain O'Brien, Colonel Dunne, 
Kirwan, James Smith, David Joyce and Dennis Buike ; the only 
member of the Directory present was O'Rorke, who paid each ofil- 
cer present thirty shillings, to keep liun till the rising took place; 
O'Rorke also stated there would be French and Gei-man ofBcers to 
head the rising in Ireland; he did not say what the movements 
would be ; we were to receive instructions, O'Rorke said, when we 
got to Dublin; he did not say from whom, but said they were in 
reference to the time for the fight; I always traveled from the 
■Kingsbridge station, on the Great Southern and Western Railway, 
Vhen carrying despatches, and on my way to Queenstown. 
tl 

The same pen that gave us an ontline of the prisoner, 
also gives us an impression of the persecutor. " I look 
■well," says the Irishman, " at Corydon, and take down 
a mental photograph of him. Sharp and clear of fea- 
ture, his hollow eyes set far under the caverns of his 
brows, are not a favorable feature. His retreating 
chin, and sharply angular jaw, Lavater would tell us 
is the type of a weak man. He gives his evidence 
with the coolness of a veteran, and endeavors to im- 



188 



CAPTAD* JOHK m'cAFFEETT. 




■matm 



press us -vdtli the belief that lie is doing what he con- 
siders an act of ^-L^tue. He is not believed ; and when 
Mr. Dowse cross-examines him, he is made to feel that. 
He asks him questions, under which he winces and 
writhes, but in vain. He pins his shame to him in his 
despite, and makes even the hardened informer blueh- 
There is, however, a variation in the scene. There is 
an argument about a law point, and Mr. Dowse dis- 
putes with the Attorney-General. The Attomey-Gen- 
efal find'? fault with Mr. Dowse's manner, and Mr. 
Dowse retorts that he is not to be taught manners by 
the Attorney-General, that he is as good and stends as 
high as he does, though he has not the harness of Gov- 
ernment on his back. The Attorney-General subsides, 
and is decidedly and unmistakably snubbed." 

In his address to the jury, Mr. Butt alluded to his 
client as " a man who had won an honorable character 
on fields of fame, and who had only done what Eng- 
lishmen gloried in, when they went to fight with Gari- 
baldi," and held that there were no two witnesses to 
prove the only act of treason which affected him, as the 
informer's statement was not corroborated. At the con- 
clusion of Mr. Butt's address, Judge Fitzgerald said: 

John irCaflFerty, I have to apprise you that now, after your coun- 
sel has spoken, you are entitled — the law also gives you the privi- 
lege, of addiessing the jury ; and if you have anything to say to 
the jury, tliis is the proper time to make it 

Captain M'Cafferty said : 1 have but one statement to make, and 
previous to making that statement, I feel bound, by private feelings, 
to return my deep, and bounden, and sincere thanks, and to both 
of them I do so, to Jlr. Butt, whom I consider the star of the Irish 



FENIAN HEE0E8 ABB MAETTE8. 



189 



bar, and to the noble and gallant Mr. Dowse. [Turning to Messra. 
Bult and Dowse] he said : Gentlemen, to each of you I tender my 
sincere thanks. [Then, tuniing to the juiy,] he said : GenOemen^ 
I have only this statement to make to this jmy. I am a stranger. 
Unfortunately, 1 have been tried in this comitiy by you on the 
charge of treason-felony against the Government of Great Britain. 
I was acquitted by the judges who presided at that tribunal after 
the evidence had failed against me, on the part of the Crown prose- 
cutor. They discharged me, without aUowing my case to go to' the 
jury, on that occasion. I pleaded, and properly pleaded, not guilty 
to the charge brought against me. That was the tnith. I Bad com 
mated no overt act of tieason within the reahn and jurisdiction of 
Ixieat Bntam. I returned to my native country after my acquittal. 
I again returned within the realm and jurisdiction of Great Britain. 
I have been led to believe-and I make the statement, emanatimt 
from my conscience-I have been led to believe, that from fta 
moment of my arrest, the Government of Great Britain did not in- 
tend to deal fairly with me: I do not make this statement for tie 
purpose of gaining sjTmpathy. 

Mr. Butt, Q. C— Ton had better not state that You have paid 
■me a compliment, and I would ask you not to say that 
M'CafTerty— I have been 'ed to believe it 

Judge Fitzgerald-Tou had better be guided by your counsel in 
any observations upon this case as it now standa 

Mr. Butt-I really and sincerely hope that Captam M'Cafferty 
will not use any strong language agamst the Government- he has 
paid me a compliment, and I would ask him, as a favor, to make 
no attack upon the CTOvemment, or anything remarkable. 

M'Cafferty-I beg to explain. You have misunderstood me in 
the manner in which I mean to bring this forward. I do not wish 
to make any attack upon the honor and integrity of the Govern- 
. ment 

Chief Justice-If you have anything to say in the case, we win 
hear you, but this is a general discursive statement You had bet- 
ter confine yourself to observations upon the case. 

After consulting with Mr. Lawless for a few moments, M'Caffer- 
ty, addressing the jury, said : I have merely to say that I am inno- 



mm 



I 



190 



CAPTAIN JOHN M'cAFFEETr. 



cent — ^tliat I have not committed any overt act, with which I am 
charged, within the realm or juri8diction of Great Britain. 
Mr. Butt^That is quite right 

On Monday, May Gtli, the jury returned a verdict of 
guilty, on all the countB. Sentence was postponed for 
several days, to hear argument before the Court of 
Cri;uinal Appeals, on points raised by Mr. Butt, who 
declai'ed that in the whole range of state trials, perhaps 
there vas not a single case which involved, he would 
not say so many intricate questions, but questions going 
so directly to the root of the law of high ti-eason. It 
was, however, of no avail. On the 20th of May, Cap- 
tain M'Cafferty was brought into Court, and being 
asked what he had to say why judgment of death 
should not be passed upon him, in a clear, unhesitat- 
ing voice, he said : 

"My Lords, I have nothing to say that can, at this advanced 
stage of this trial, ward off that sentence of death. I might as well 
hurl my complaint, if I have one, at the orange trees of the sunny 
South, or the lofty pine of the great North, as now to speak to the 
question why sentence should not he passed upon me, accoixJing to 
the law of the day ; hut I do protest, loudly, against the injustice 
of that sentence. I have heen brought to trial upon a chai'ge of 
high treason against the Government of Great Britain, and guilt 
has been brought home to me, on the evidence of one witness, and 
that witness a peijured informer. I deny, distinctly, that there have 
been two witnesses to prove the overt act of treason against me. 
I deny, distinctly, that you have brought two independent wit- 
nesses to two overt acts. There is but one witness to prove the 
overt act of treason against me. I grant, and freely grant, that 
there has been a cloud of circumstantial evidence, to show my con- 
nection, if I may please to use that word, with the Irish people, in 
their attempt for Irifih independence, and I claim that, as an Am pri. 



' -^ i-J-:ii5^ i ffii i 'r^"^'^'"^'^' '"''■^"'•^ 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AND MAETTM. 



191 



can, and as an alien, I have a right to sympathize with the Irish 
people, or with any other people who may please to revolt against 
that fonn of government by which they beUeve they are tyrannl-/ 
caUy treated. England sympathized with America. She not only 
sympathized with her, but gave support to both parties. Who ever 
heard of Enghshmen being arrested ^y the United States Govern- 
ment, for taking up arms on behalf of the confederation of the 
Southern States, or of bemg placed upon his trial on a charge of high 
treason against the Government ? No such case ever appeared. ■ 
"I do not deny but that I have sympathized with the Irish peo- 
ple. I loved Ireland, and I love the Irish people. If I were free 
to-morrow, and the Irish people were to lake the field for independ- 
ence, my sjTnpaUiies would be with them. I would join them,*lf 
they had any show whatever to win that independence, while I 
would not give my sanction to the useless efliision of blood- I have 
done it, and I state distincUy, that I have no connection whatever, 
direcUy or indh-ecUy, with the. movement that took place in the 
county of DubUn. I make that statement on the brink of my graveu 
Agam, I claim that I have a right to be discharged on the charge 
that has been brought against me, by the nature of the law by 
which I have been tried. That law distmcUy says that you must 
produce two independent witnesses to prove the overt act of trea- 
son against the prisoner. I claim, and claim loudly, that yon 
have not produced, accordmg to that law, these two independent 
Witnesses. This is the only complamt I have to make. I make 
that loudly. I find no fault with the jury. I have no complamt 
to make against the judge. I have been tried and found guilty, and • 
I am perfectly satisfied I will go to my grave. I will go to my 
grave as a gentleman and a Christian. Although iVegret that I 
should be cut ofi' at this state of Ufe, still many noble and generous 
Irishmen fell on behalf of my Southern land. I do not wish to make 
any flowery speech in this court of justice ; and without any further 
remaiks, I will now accept the sentence of the court" 

The death sentence was then pronounced by Judge 
Fitzgerald, after which the prisoner, " still uuBhaken," 
Bpoke as follows : 



192 



CAPTAIN JOHN M CATTEETT, 



"I wiM accept my sentence as a gentleman and a Christian, and 
I have but one request, and that is, after the execution of the een- 
, tence, my remains may be turned over to Mr. Lawless, to be inter- 
red by him in consecrated ground, as quietly as h^ possible can. 
I bave now to return my grateful and sincere thanks to Mr. Butt, 
the :*}ar of the Irish bar, for his able defence of the alien prisoners. 
[To Sir. Butt] — Mr. Butt, I return you my thanks. I also return 
the same token of esteem to !Mr. Dowse, for the kind manner in 
which he speaks of my former life. Those allusions recalled to my 
mind many moments, some bright, beautiful, glorious, and yet some 
sad recollections drifted before my eyes, of that gleam of hope that 
floated for an instant in the revolutionary struggle, and then sank 
fSrever. Mr. Butt, please give to Sir. Dowse my grateful asd sin- 
cere thanks. Mr. Lawless, to you I return my thanks now for 
your many kindnesses, and I can do no more." 

Mr. Lawless tlien shook Lands witli the prisoner, 
■who immediately retired with a firm step. 

The gentleman who visited Colonel Bonrke in hie 
cell, caught a glimpse of his fellow prisoner, himself 
unseen, and thus relates it : 

"When I entered the prison I was shown along through many 
corridors, to that recent building called the New JaiL The door 
was opened upon a passage, lofl;y and airy, in which my view waa 
bounded by a screen, but whose hue was, to my eyes, of ebon dark- 
ness. I passed beyond it, and a cell door met my glance on the 
side of the passage, in the centre of which was a small trap-door, 
of about one foot square, through which I looked, and saw Captain 
John M'Cafferty, dressed as I last caught his glance, with stalwart 
form as ever, but now kneeling, with his arms outstretched, and 
his hands clasped beneath, his face bent upon them, in prayer. 
Before his humbled brow rose an image the most sacred to Catholic 
eyes, the most hopeful to Christian hope. It was the image of the 
Crucified. The lofty brow of the great Sufferer was crowned with 




FENIAN HEE0E8 AND MAETTR8. 



19S 



the diadem of agony. The artist had pictured the f "Pf ^fW*^ 
a>at oozed from the gashed forehead, the heavy gouts of go^that 
fell from the hand and foot and side, and the w^^ole er^^^ 
awful representation of the sacrifice of Calvary. I looked and liB- 
tened-the supplicant still unconscious of human presence. Low 
murmurs reached my ear. They were murmurs of prayer andpar- 
don-the prayer of a man about to die with the spint of a CW^ 
tian genUeman.' Why should I intrude upon its rapture, ita faith 
and consolation." 

In June, Captain M'CafFerty's sentence was commu- 
ted to penal servitude for life. The prisoner received 
the news with composure, and was removed under a 
strong escort to the Mountjoy penal depot. 



tuvmmvtf !»■!" 



194 



COLONEL JOHN J, o'cONNOE. 



COLONEL JOHN J. O'CONNOR. 

Bora on Vdentla Island-Emigrates to America-Runs off and Joins the 
Union Anny-Long: Serrice-Promotion-Gallant action at Spottsvlvania- 
Wonnded »t Cold Harbor-First Lieutenant-Captain-«erioasly Wonnded 
again at Petersbnrg-In Gommand of his Eegiment-Mastered ont-Goes 
to Ireland-Organizes Kerry-The Rising-Statement in the House of 
Lords-Reporter Arrested for Telegraphing Military Disaffections-O'Connor 
eent to Amerjca— His Address to the Pablic— Organizing Tour. 

Although one of the youngest of the Military- 
Chieftains of the Brotherliood, Colonel O'Connor has 
had very. distinguished experience; and his. connection 
with the moTOments in Ireland, being the first to raise 
the flag of revolt in the mountains of Kerry, in Feb- 
ruaiy 1867, gave his name a wide-spread prominence. 
After the failure of the intended demonstrations on 
Chester, the insurrection in Ireland was postponed 
but the messengers not reaching Kerry in time' 
Colonel O'Connor proceeded to carry out his previous 
instructions, and in so doing, showed that he was a 
man for the occasion. His movement following the 
Chester afiair created great consternation, and the 
telegraph wires conveyed his name throughout the 
Eritish Empire, over land and under ocean, to this 
continent, where it was welcomed and toasted by his 
ciiiintrymen, who then heard of the gallant young 
soldier for the first time. 



i *". . '^ 









'^ -::^is\ 




m 








w 




:--% S'i 



Tk--:...MZ^ 



^1 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETTE8, 



195 



■J 

I 



Jolin James O'Connor was born on Valentia Island 
on the Western coast of Kerry. W hen between three 
and four yeai-s old, while the terrible years of fever 
and famine had swept the South and West, his parents 
emigrated t6 the United States, and landed in Boston, 
in which vicinity the boy was brought up. 

Having New England " go-aheadativeness " grafted 
on the natural ardor of his race, young O'Connor 
desired to join the anny of the Union when the South- 
em rebellion broke out, but his relations resolutely 
opposed the idea in consequence of the youthfolness 
of the applicant. However the youth might be denied, 
he could not be dissuaded. His feelings became 
warmly aroused. Like young Norval, he 

'.' had heard of battles, and he long'd. 

To follow to the field some warlike lord; 

And heaven soon granted what his sire denied." 

At last he made his opportunity ; and one bright 
morning in the month of September, 1861, TOthout 
acquainting liis fi-iends or relatives, he proceeded from 
his home, in Braintree, to the City of Boston and 
enlisted in the 28th Kegiment Massachusetts (Irish) 
Volunteers, under the name of James Connors, think- 
ing' the assumed name a good means of concealment 
against the pursuit of his friends. His relatives, how- 
ever discovered him, and endeavored to persuade him 
to return, but to no purpose. His only reply was : " I 
am all right, and will return with shoulder straps on." 
He was just seventeen years old a week before his 
regiment departed for the seat of war. 



\ 



19G 



COLONEL JOHN 3. o'cONNOE. 



The 28tli Massachusetts was destined for Sonth 
Carolina, and there, amid the swamps and sandy 
plains, the regiment, afterwards so eminently distin- 
giiislied, learned the duties of soldier life. O'Connor 
was determined to be a soldier, and a good one. His 
first act was to send home to his mother for military 
books, on the receipt of which, he studied ; and, com- 
bining theory and practice, soon mastered many diffi- 
culties, and made himself eminently fit to rise. His 
youth and quiet disposition, acted against the desires 
of his ambitious spirit, and kept him in the shade for 
a long tune. It was two years before he achieved his 
first step upward — a corporal's warrant, which, he 
often said, he was prouder of than a commission after- 
wards. During this time the 28th — besides the move- 
ments on Dawfusky and Tybee Islands, and an attack 
on Fort Munson, James Island — had gone through the 
campaigns of the Kapidan and Rappahannock, and 
the still more momentous campaign in Maryland, 
■sharing the gloom and glory of the second Bull Hun, 
Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam and other 
fights. On the 23d November, 1863, the regiment 
was transferred from the Ninth to the Second corps, and 
assigned to the L-ish Brigade, under General Meagher. 

A year passed, and O'Connor secured another pro- 
motion in being made sergeant. Next year came the 
great campaign of 1864. At the battle of Spottsylvar 
nia Court-House, in the memorable charge of Han- 
cock's corps, of which the brigade formed a part, the 
ambitious young soldier gi-eatly distinguished himself. 
When the color-sergeants were struck down, O'Connor 



FENLAN HEEOES iiND MAETTES. 



197 



sprang forward, and raising the dear old gi-een flag of 
his regiment, waved it defiantly in tlie face of the foe. 
This first di-ew the attention of his commanding officer, 
Major Andrew J. Lawlor, a fine type of the Irish sol- 
dier, who thanked the sergeant for his gallant conduct, 
and who, a week later, May 17th, at the second battle 
of Spottsylvania, met his own death at the head of his 
noble regiment. 

On the 3d June, O'Connor was severely wounded, 
at the battle of Cold Harbor, and was not able to re- 
turn to duty until the following August. Having, in the 
mean time, been promoted fii-st lieutenant, the yoimg 
soldier had won his " shoulder straps " with his blood. 
On rejoining his regiment. Lieutenant O'Connor was 
obliged, owing to the scarcity of officers, to command 
two companies. In November, he was promoted cap- 
tain. But one officer of the original organization was 
on the muster-roll, and that was Colonel Cartwright, 
who proceeded with the remnant of the regiment to 
Boston, the terra of service having expii-ed on the 20th 
December, 1864. The officers and men whose term 
had not expired, and those who chose to re-enlist, fell 
to the command of O'Coimor, as senior Captain. He 
consolidated his command into a battalion of five com- 
panies. 

In about two months, Major Fleming, who had been 
wounded, returned, and Captain O'Connor again took 
charge of his company. In March, 1865, the army 
again advanced to storm' the works before Petersburg, 
and here again O'Connor was very severely wounded, 
from which he still suflers. He rejoined his regiment 



198 



COLONEL JOHN J. o'cONITOE. 



a few days previous to the grand review by President 
Johnson and General Grant, at Washington, on the 
return of the troops at the end of the war. He was 
scarcely able to be present, but he could not deny 
himself the soldier pride of being present on so splen- 
did an occasion. After the review, the commanding 
officer who was also severely wounded at Petersburg, 
returning home, the command again fell to O'Connor. 
The battalion was mustered out on the field on the 
last of June, arrived in Boston, July 5th, and was 
finally mustered out on the 22d of that month. Owing 
to some negligence on the part of the State official, 
the gallant young soldier did not receive his promotion' 
as Lieutenant-Colonel, to which he was entitled, 
although his name had been duly sent to Massachusetts 
for the purpose in May. 

O'Connor had at least a part of his ambition grati- 
fied. He had won his distinction, but his health was 
greatly impaired. His wound was open, and a 
relapse taking place, he was again prostrated, and all 
hope of his recovery given up. But he was destined 
for other service. 

He had become a Fenian while in the army ; and 
six weeks after his return home- he signed the Koll of 
Honor, to serve his native land ; saying to himself " I 
have fought for the stranger — surely I could not do 
less than fight, and if need be, die, for the land of 
my fathers." 

He went to Ireland and landed in Dublin, whence 
he was immediately dispatched to the County Kerry, 
where his people were known, and for which, though 



FEOTAN HEEOES AITO MABTTES. 



199 



he had little recollection of it, his heart still yearned 
with those feelings which our birth-home ever must 
inspire. There were few Fenians in Kerry, and it had 
not up to that time kept pace with the movements here- 
tofore undertaken. O'Connor did not think this was 
the people's fault, and soon had reason to believe he was 
right. He organized the county, and though very 
closely watched, managed so as to lull suspicion 
for a long time. After having more than usual good 
luck, he was forced to leave the towns and take to the 
country, where the people attended to his every want, 
and were constantly on the look out for his safety. 
The police were often on his track, but he was 
enabled, by the faithfulness of the people and his own 
celerity, to evade them, until broken down with 
continual watching, being a " poor walker," and his 
wound coming against him, he was reluctantly com- 
pelled to leave the scenes of his operations for 
England. 

With returning health, he ran the blockade in 
ITovember, and entered his native county, passing as 
a detective officer. He again set to work, preparing 
and instructing the people in what they most anxious- 
ly desired to know — a knowledge of military matters. 
His enthusiastic nature added to the effect of his 
military erperience. Sometimes in conversation with 
a friend who doubted the success of the movement 
in view, from want of money, or otlaer causes, O'Con- 
nor would reply: "Money is not all we want, but 
the dauntless corn-age of men willing to devote them- 
seh'es to a cause which they must never hope to see 



^"■^ I 



200 



COLONEL JOHN J. o'cONNOK. 



BuccessM, but whose graves will form the ramparts 
over which others will achieve victory," 

At last O'Connor received orders to commence 
operations, and immediately, and with cool deter- 
mination, issued his orders. 

For the reasons previously stated, the Kerry move- 
ment was allowed to die out ; but not before the most 
wide-spread excitement and anxiety had been created. 
This was widened by the statement made in the 
House of Lords on 14th February. In reply to an 
inquiry by the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Earl of 
Derby said : • 

" I can oitirely understand the anxiety -which the noble Marqnja 
and your Lordships must feel with regard to the unfortunate cir- 
cumstances which have occurred within the last twenty-four hours, 
and I also recognize to the Mlest extent the duty of withholding 
nothing fhnn your Lordships. And though the information whidi 
we possess is only such as can be received by telegram, and is, 
therefore, in the highest degree meagre and unsatisfactory, I am 
perfectly ready to state, without reserve, all the circumstances 
that have come to our knowledge. Yesterday afternoon wo 
received information by telegi'am that between Mallow, Valentia, 
and Killamey the telegraphic wires had been cut ; and by telegrams 
subsequently received we learned that they had been repaired, and 
that the Company were regularly patrolling the line for the purpose 
of its protection. Last night, a little before 11 o'clock, we 
received telegraphic information to the effect that an outbreak had 
certainly taken place — we do not know in what number^ or how 
far armed — but that at Cahirciveen the Coast-guard station had 
been sacked, and that a messenger, a mounted policeman, had 
been fhot by a body of insurgents. We received information this 
morning that, although the man had been shot at, he had not been 
lulled, but his arms and horse were taken possession of by the 
mob. Our infol-mation further went on to say, that great appre- 



FENIAN HEROES AKD MAETTE3. 



201 






hensions were entertained in the town of Killamey, tipon which 
it was said that the mob were marching. That, as the noble 
Marquis knows, is distant from Cahirciveen about forty miles. 
KiUai-ney, at the time, was utterly unprotected, but provision for 
the safety of the place was made by sending instructions immedi- 
ately for the movement of troops by express trains from Cork, 
Tralee, and also from the Curragh. We received in the course of 
the night three subsequent telegrams, the last of which informed 
us that the first detachment from Cork had arrived at Killamey, 
and that the second was expected there in the course of a few 
hours. I learned to-day from Lord Strathnaim, that a detach- 
ment of five hundred men were on their way from the Curragh, 
and already arrived at Mallow. It is satisfactory to learn that 
these measures afforded great relief to the minds of the people ot 
KiUamey, and that no further outbreak has occurred, except, as 
we understand, that the police barracks at Kells was attacked by 
the same party which visited Cahirciveen. We have not heard 
that they approached any nearer to KiUamey, nor have we heard 
of any symptoms of distvirbance in any other part of the country. 
It wiU also be satisfactory to your Lordships to know that we 
have arrested an officer in the neighborhood of Cahirciveep, who, 
when arrested, was proceeding to take command of the insurgents, 
and was taken with strongly criminatory papers in his possession. 
I believe that the feeling of anxiety and alarm which this sudden 
outbreak produced has greatly subsided. At a conference which I 
felt it my duty to hold last night with His Royal Highness the 
Commander-in-Cbiet; the Secretary of State for the Home Depart- 
ment, and Lord Naas, Chief Secretaiy for Ireland, it was decided 
that Lord Naas should proceed to Ireland at once ; and he accord- 
ingly did so at a very eai-ly hour this moming. A telegraph from 
Lord Strathnaim states that he goes over to Dublin by the mail to- 
night I have no reason to believe that this is more than a local 
outbreak ] at the same time notice has been ^ven in every direction 
that the utmost vigilance is to be exercised." 

In reply to the telegraph, troops were rushed to 
Eollamey by special trains. Six hundred men of the 



202 



FENIAN HEKOEB AND MAETTEB. 



Forty-eigttli and Sixtli regiments arrived from ITew- 
bridge in a special train of nineteen carriages, also 
three hundred of the Fourteenth foot from Fermoy, 
and one hundred and fifty of the Sixtieth rifles from 
Cork, under Colonel Palmer — the whole force being 
commanded by Brigadier Sir Alfred Hosford. 

The correspondent of the Cork Herald, -who got 
himself into trouble, gave the following idea of the 
" insurgent chief:" " I have not heard that they have 
made any arrests ; and if the current rumors be credit- 
ed, it is not likely that the young man, O'Connor, who 
commands the Fenians, will allow his men to be* arrest- 
ed. He has the character of being a brave, resolute 
soldier, who served with distinction in the American 
army, and that he ■wall make his band of followers — ^to 
use the words of an old song — ' conquer or die.' O'Con- 
nor is said to be as great an artist in personal disguises 
as Stephens himself, and though moving about the 
country for many months past, he all through eluded 
the vigilance of the police, who were most desii'ous to 
meet him. He is by birth a Kgrryman. Captain 
Moriarty also served in the American army, and 
Sheehan who is lodged with him in the county jail, 
fought in the Papal Brigade, and- was wounded at 
Spoletto." 

The rising, indeed, as was natural, gave the public 
journals extensive business. Every one of them seem- 
ed to have a special correspondent in that County ; 
and amid the abundance of rumors, picked up from 
the soldiers as well as the people, and circulated freely, 
some amusing and interesting scenes were embedded. 



•^"w 



COLONEL JOHN 3. o'cONNOE. 



203 



Among the former may be placed the latter whicli 
was given to the world by a Glasgow journal : 

" With regard to the Fenian rising in Kerry, I can 
assure you, as a fact, that no one knows either its 
extent, the exact numbers of those engaged in the- 
•insurrection, nor whether the insurgents have come 
into close contact with the soldiers. The Government 
took possession of the lines of, telegraph — whether 
judiciously or otherwise I leave you to be the judge — 
and nothing has been allowed to transpire, except 
whatever came through their own hands. I have 
learned, however, that, in places where the wires were 
cut, some of the Fenians adroitly fixed galvanic 
batteries, and, with the coolest impudence possible, 
kept up a correspondence with the authorities in 
Dublin. Just fancy a lot of fellows standing in a field, 
some smoking, and others joking, while a few of the 
more practiced hands are busily engaged sending a 
message like the following to Dublin : ' 800 insurgents 
up in arms, led by Captain Moriarty — all over Kerry, 
especially in the mountainous district. Speed, and 
send word what troops are coming.' Answer — ' "War- 
rants for the arrest of Moriarty and O'Connor are 
despatched by special messenger. Troops are ordered 
from Curragh, Dublin and Cork.' '- 

A reward of £250 for O'Connor failed to influence 
the people, save in doubling their eflTorts to mislead the 
authorities and shield the Fenians. 

In discussing the case of the newspaper reporter, 
alluded to, who was arrested, the public journals 
completely nullified the efi"ect intended to have been 



204 



FENIAH HEEOES AITO MAETTES. 



made hj Ms incarceration, and gave extensive expo 
sure to tlie trepidation into which the officials had 
fallen through fear of military disaifection at this 
time. The following, trom the Cork Examiner, brief- 
ly sets forth the fact, and the state of feeling it 
aroused: 

" A new feature in Irish government has been exhibited by the 
police magistrate who has charge in Killamey, and one which, we 
think, is calculated to set the public seriously thinking whether 
there really is any lil)erty left us in this country. As the matter 
has reached us, a reporter employed by the Cork Herald was 
arrested and has been imprisoned, and is still in close confinement, 
because, in the discharge of his vocation, he offered for transmis- 
sion by telegraph a message bearing the heading, ' Disaffection 
amongst the Military.' If this be the case, then the suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus is not the only Indignity the country has to 
suffer. The liberty of every man is placed at the disposal of the 
resident magistracy, and there needs neither Act of Parliament 
nor warrant of law to render Irishmen as liable to the caprice of 
the stipendiary, as the Oriental of the Arabian Nights is to that of 
his CadL There is added to the stoiy a statement that Mr. Ti-acey 
was only saved from the indignity of being marched to prison 
handcuffed, by the interference of a military officer. This is 
merely a circumstance in aggi'avation of the insolence of the 
outrage, but it does not in the least degree affect the principle. 
Under the despotic government of France, the transmission of false 
news is punishable by law ; but it must be remembered that that 
state of things existed only at the will of an autocrat, and lately it 
has been very much modified. But under our glorious constitu- 
tion the Press has been supposed to be fiee. We certainly were 
under the impression that it had a license to disseminate news as 
accurately as it could be gathered, and that the question of truth 
or falsehood was left to the unfettered discretion of the conductors. 
But we are rudely awakened by this act of the police magistrate. 
It appeal's that there is vested in >Ir. Greene, R, M., and his like^ 



COLONEL JOHN J. o'cONNOB. 



205 



a power above the law and the constitution, and that facts mtiBt 
be suited to his taste or not published at all. We thought it was 
going pretty far when the messages for the press were all subjected 
to official supervision, but in an exigency like the present, no one 
thought of making complaint on tliat score. It is, however, dif- 
ferent when the personal liberty of members of the Press is violated 
- in a manner that reminds one of what we hear about continental 
despotisms," 

The officials would not listen to the idea— no matter 
what the facts were to the contrary, notwithstanding — 
that any of the troops were disaffected, and Mr. Msr 
thew Tracey was only released from prison upon his 
giving £50 bail, and two sureties in £25 each, to ap- 
pear at the Tralee Assizes, in answer to the charge of 
having " wilfully and maliciously misrepresented her 
Majesty's forces." 

Colonel O'Connor baffled the troops and police 
and was despatched to the United States by the par- 
ties directing affairs. He arrived in New York about 
the middle of May, and, having reported to the Execu- 
tive, he proceeded to Boston, where he issued the fol- 
lowing address : 

Boston, May 23d, 1867. 
To the Irishmen of Massachusetts and all Friends of Ireland: 

FKLTXJw-ConNTKYMEN — No doubt many of you will think me 
presumptions in appealing to you to give your assistance to those 
who are still determmed to carry on the struggle for Irish inde- 
pendence. But I have been sent here by my comrades and my 
superior officers, to ask you for the help which we need, and which 
was promised to us by many amongst you before we embarked in 
tills enterprise ; and it was in the full confidence that we were to 
receive all the aid you could give us, that we ever left the shores 
of America, 



MPPPIPt"^ 



206 



FENIAN HEEOES AND MAETTEB. 



When I left Boston, in the fall of 1865, the Fenian Brotherhood 
was a united and well organized body. When I reached Ireland, I 
Bet about the duty assigned to me, and since then I have fulfilled it 
to the best of my ability, We, in Ii-eland, could never understand 
why a split could occur among our friends — why, at the last moments 
when we were ready to commence a great tmd glorious struggle — 
when there were over three hundred American officers in all partfi 
of the country — of all ranks — men trained in many a hard fought 
battle against slavery, and who were willing and ready to lead the 
men of Ireland to victory or death. Brothers and fellow-couatiy- 
men, these men were not fools, as some represent them ; they were 
not carried away by enthusiasm. They knew what they had to 
contend against, and they knew our advantages. They left this 
country with the full consent and counsel of all the Erjtherhood. 
When I was leaving New York, in 1865, almost the last man I saw 
was Mr. Roberts. "Go," said he, " and God bless you. TeU our 
friends at home that before three months are over we will all meet 
on Irish soiL" I never saw him after, nor did we in Ireland ever 
receive from him one dollar, one musket, or one man. If he is an 
honest man, if he is a true man, why did he, at the eleventh hour, 
cause a disturbance in the camp? Fellow-countrymen, do not for 
one moment imagine that the cause at home is lost or broken up, 
or in danger of being so. Though our hated foes are expending 
millions to accomplish that end, the spirit and principles of the 
men are as buoyant as ever, and will be while there is an officer 
left to lead them. In our ranks at home, there are men of all classes 
and professions. The real thinking men, and the men who love 
their country, are with us. There are many men of high standing 
and position, who would like to reap the advantages of a revolution, 
without having to encounter its risks. These are always hesitating, 
under the plea that the time has not yet come, wait till fall, &c. 
When our undertaking is crowned with success, they will be will- 
ing to take sides, and share the glory and victory. Until then, we 
must be content with their sympathy. From them we expect noth- 
ing, and will get nothing. Fellow-countrjTnen, do not believe the 
newspaper reports from Ireland. With a few honorable exceptions, 
tney ai-e all in the pay or in the interest of the English enemy. 



COLONEL JOHN J. o'cONNOB. 



207 



Fellow-countiymen, in the name of Liberty, in the name of Ireland, 
I ask for your assistance now. Come forward and enable me to re- 
turn to my gallant comrades, with the assurance that you have not 
forgotten Ireland, and have not abandoned Bourke and his fellow- 
prisoner to the tender mercies of PentonviUe. Do not wait until 
the last man is slaughtered or taken prisoner. I cannot command 
the pen sufficiently to give expression to my feelings. My abilitj, 
if I have any, does not lie in that direction. But I am a man of 
my word, and I stake my life or my liberty on the truth of what I 
assert, and those who know me have never found me wrong in any ' 
statement I have made in reference to Ireland ; and with others who 
are conversant with the details and requirements of an army, they 
are confident that if our countrymen in America do their duty to 
Ireland, our task would indeed be an easy one. England is not the 
England of 1798, and she knows it. The odds wUl not be so fear- 
fully against us, as they were lately, with a villain and a traitor 
chief of staff. The treason of these wretches has baffled our late 
attempt, but not defeated our cause. We have again closed our 
ranks, and are preparing to meet our foe on a fairer field, and with 
better prospects of success. We have the fullest confidence in our 
superior officers at home. The men in charge of affairs in America 
at present, have proved their sincerity by the manner in which they 
have supported us. Some of these men I have known for years, 
and were I not confident of their honesty and their determination 
to help us, I would not be so w illin g to return to my post in the 
heart of the enemy's country, with a price upon my head, knowing 
well the risk I am going to run, if captured by the bloodhounds 
who were so long upon my track. 

Fellow-countrymen, for the first and last Ume, I appeal to you 
in behalf of down-trodden and suffering Ij'elmd, in the name of 
those noble men now suffering in British dungeons, and in the 
name of my gallant comi'ades, who are anxiously waiting for my 
return. You can assist us if you will. Let him who sits coolly 
at home, reading the accounts of our poor men far away, suffering 
on the hills, patiently waiting for the expected aid from America, 
beware of the everlasting shame and disgrace awaiting him, if he 



F 



208 



TESUS HEE0K8 AifD MAETTES. 



cannot say that he has done his part in the noble work— the over- 
throw of the vampire that now sucks the i;fe-blood of our people. 

To those who were members of the Fenian Brotherhood when I 
went to Ii^fcland, I particularly appeal. Confiding in your assist- 
ance, I went to risk my life for my country. Whatever may be 
the inducements held out to you, which caused you to give your 
assistance to other parties, I ask you now to be no longer led astray 
by false lights and specious speech-makers. 

Betum to your allegiance, and unite with those who are wiUing 
to give their all to aid us in the fight for liberty. In conclusion, I 
can only say that, whether you aid us or not, we will not abandon 
the cause. We will not leave our comrades to rot and die in the 
dungeons of Pentonville and Mountjoy, without making an eflbrt 
to rescue them, or share their fate. The struggle has onljr com- 
menced, and it will end only with the death or imprisonment of 
the last of us, or we will leave our country better than we found her. 
YouTB, ever faithfully and flratemally, 

John James O'Cohnob, 
Colonel L R. A., and Charge (T Affaires for Kerry. 

PreTioTifi to Colonel O'Connor's arrival, Mr. John 
Savage liad made arrangementB for a tour through 
Massachusetts, in aid of the Irish cause, and to instil 
among the Circles the necessity of union among Irish- 
men for the love of Ireland. Colonel O'Connor visited 
many towns with Mr. Savage. Subsequently, the Col- 
onel went on an organizing tour in Michigan, and the 
shores of Lake Superior. He was also a delegate from 
Massachusetts to the sixth National Congress, which 
assembled 21st August, in New Tork, and acted on 
some important committees. 






CAPTAIN MOETIMEB MOKIAETT. 



209 



CAPTAIN MORTIMER MORIARTT, 

First Fenian Organizer In Canada— Arrested going to Campo Bello— 'EscapeB— 
Goes to Ireland— In Kerry— Arrested on Us Way to Talie Command— Canse 
of Ms Arrest— What Followed- Trial— Evidence of the Spy Talbot— Found 
Guilty — Sentence. 

Captain Moeiaett, so frequently mentioned in con- 
nection with Colonel O'Connor and the Kerry rising, 
was an active Fenian organizer, a man of courage, tact 
and energy. He had been a useful propagandist of 
national principles in Canada, and his devotion to the 
cause is illustrated by his readiness to sacrifice his 
life for it. 

Mortimer Moriarty is a native of the Parish of Ca- 
hirciveen, County of Kerry ; and emigrated with his 
family to Toronto, Canada "West, after the famine of 
1846-7. The memories of the sufferers in the old land 
kept alive his patriotism in the new. He became a 
prominent member of the St. Patrick's and ffibemian 
Societies ; and went still further, in becoming the first 
organizer of Fenianism in Canada. His military ten- ■ 
dencies led him to the command of a company of mili- 
tia ; and he was arrested, with that sturdy nationahst, 
Mr. Michael Murphy, and others, when on his way to 
join the armed Fenians at Campo BeUo. After some 
weeks in confinement, Moriarty and Murphy effected 



210 



FENIAIJ HEROES AND MAETTEB. 



their escape — ^mucli to the horror and chagrin of the 
Canadians — tliroiigh an underground passage, and, af- 
ter further adventures, reached Xew Tork. Captain 
Moriarty sailed for Ireland in December, 1866, and 
^vas despatched by CoL T, J. Kelly to take O'Connor's 
place in Keny, in the belief that the latter, according 
to report, had been captured. 

Meeting O'Connor, he was induced to remain in 
charge of the locahty surrounding Cahirciveen ; and 
took up his residence about four miles from that place 
under the assumed name of O'Shea, which seemed a 
very important fact in the eyes of the Solicitor-GSneral, 
who traced up Moriarty's movements in these words : 
"From Christmas, 1866, till February, he lived at 
Connor's, and had no ostensible employment whatever. 
He made frequent visits to Cahirciveen, and said he 
came to Ireland for the benefit of his health. In Ca- 
hirciveen there is a reading-room, where dances are 
frequently held, and I think I am justified in stating 
it was used not only for the purposes of innocent re- 
creation, but as a ^lace where Fenians resorted. On 
the evening of the 11th of February, Moriarty was at 
the dance there with O'Reilly, who had been convicted" 
as a Fenian at these assizes. About the first of Febru- 
ary, J. J. O'Connor was stopping at the house of a man 
named Kelly, a quarter of a mile from where Moriarty 
was living. O'Connor, as I am instructed, was " Cen- 
tre " for Kerry. "We have thus brought into proximity 
tlie prisoner with other leading members, and we have 
him in the immediate neighborhood of the Atlantic 
cable. On the 12th of Febmaiy, the morning wh^ 



CAPTAIK MOETIMEB MOEIAETT. 



211, 



preceded the attack on the coast-guard station at KeHs, 
and the shooting of Duggan— the time fixed for the 
rising to take place generally in this country— Moriarty 
proceeded on the mail car from Cahirciveen to Killar-' 
ney, and was arrested within a mile of the latter town. 
He and his luggage were taken to the police station in 
Killamey, and in his pocket was found a letter directed 
" J. D. Sheehan, Esq.," with the word "present" in 
•the comer: 

" February 12th. 
"My Deas SnEEHArr— I have the honor to introduce to you 
Captain Moriarty. He w'll be of great assistance to you, and I 
have told him all that is to be done until I get to your place. The 
private spies are very active this morning. Unless they smell a 
rat, all will be done wilhout any trouble. Success to you. Hoping 
to meet you, I am, as ever, j. j. O'COKNOR." 

The Eev. Father Lavelle gives the following account 
of the cause of Captain Moriarty's arrest, and other 
exciting circumstances attending the Kerry rising: 

" It appears that on Tuesday last, the 12th, a shoe- 
less girl came to a Mr. Galway, J. P., agent to Lord 
Castlerosse, at Killamey, with an anonymous letter, to 
say that 'Captain Murty Moriarty ' would be on his 
way next day, or actually was on Bianconi's car from 
Cahirciveen to Killamey, bearing important despatches .- 
from ' General O'Connor,' Head Centre of the South, 
to a 'brother,' named Sheehan, in the latter town. 
The agent and J. P., with some Mr. Coltsman or other, 
took the alarm, and sent off a posse of poHce to meet 
the car some four miles out of town, and to arrest the 
party thus informed against. This was easily accom- 



212 



FENIAN HEEOES AND MAETTES. 



plished, as liis distinctive features were described, lie 
having lost a portion of the nose in the recent Ameri- 
can war. Unfortunately, he had on his person papers 
from O'Connor, introducing him to Sheehaa as deputy 
for that part, and prescribing an immediate plan of ao- 
tion. At least so the story is told. Sheehan was, of 
course, arrested, and, with Captain Moriarty and a man 
named Garde, conveyed to Tralee jail. The same night 
the wires of the telegraph were cut simultaneously at. 
two places, forty miles assimder — ten miles to the east 
of Killarney, and twenty-eight miles to the west, on the 
Valentia line. The coast-guard station, at Keils, was 
attacked, and the arms found therein seized, but no in- 
jury done to the men. Next day and night the magia- 
trates met, panic-stricken, at the Railway Hotel, Killar- 
ney, and kept telegraphing, like very furies, to Dublin 
and Cork for ' more troops.' And so troops have arri- 
ved — arrived next day from both places, to the amount 
now in all of one thousand, ^nd imder the command 
of a Brigadier-General Horsford. This officer was sent 
especially, from Aldershot, to tak^the command. 

" On the arrival of the Cork detachment, at 3.30 in 
the morning, they were told off to meet, and beat, and 
kill and capture the insurgents. But no insurgent had 
they the good or bad fortune to encounter. At night 
other squads, accompanied by the young Mr. Herbert, 
M. P., (I think,) set off to sua-round the wood of the 
Toomies ; but after passing a di-eary night, no insuir- 
gents did they meet, nor does it appear that one has 
been encountered yet by any of the detachments. 

"But on the arrest of Captain Moriarty, an orderly 



CAPTAIN MOETIMEE MOEIAETT. 



213 



was despatched with instructions to Yalentia, and be- 
ing met on the road by a number of armed men, was 
requested to halt and deliver his papers. He refused, 
drawing his sword and striving to make away from the 
assemblage. He was galloping off at full pace, when 
a ball on the hip brought him down. He was then 
taken to an adjacent house, when, fearing he was about 
to die, he called for the priest. One of the party — call 
• them ' insurgents ' for the moment — went forthwith for 
the clergyman, who attended him as usual. But here 
the Rev. Mr. McGinn, after acting as the servant of 
God, thought fit to do a trifle in the British spy way ; 
and so proceeded forthwith to the police barrack of Kos- 
beg, and there warned the police to ' stand to arms.' 
He subsequently met the insurgents— I cannot as yet 
call them Fenians — and told them to desist, not to ap- 
proach the barrack, for that the police were ready to 
receive them. ' Then you have informed on us,' said 
one of them. " Yes,' answered he, ' I did so, and would 
do so again, and am prepared for the consequences;' 
"Without further parley, they left his reverence and 
proceeded their way, whither it has not been since as- 
certained. But it would appear that on "Wednesday 
some of them were seen, wearing green uniforms, pass- 
ing the ' Gap of Dunloe,' and taking the direction of 
the mountains. So much for the facts, as far as they 
have liitherto transpired. 

" The panic, as might be expected, was extreme 
among the loyal "West Britishers of the ' Kingdom of 
Kerry,' during the excitement. Mrs. Herbert flitted to 
the Railway Hotel, with several others from the neigh- 



214 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETTES. 



borliood. Lord Naas, tlie IrisTi Chief Secretary, 'was 
telegraphed to at his very seat in the House of Com- 
mons, and had to come across to see after this part of 
her Majesty's dominions — leaving his Irish Land Bill, 
which he was to move next night, to its fate. ' The 
Irish Office,' in London, was up all night on "Wednes- 
day, seeing what to do ; and on the whole, whatever 
may be the nature or the result of the commotion, it 
has rather fretted onr most benign and paternal Chris- 
tian Masters. 

" Some persist in denying it to be a Fenian move- 
ment at alL I would I could bring myself to l?elieve 
60 much. But I fear that utter hatred of the intolerar 
ble yoke, with extra enthusiasm, not guided by pru- 
dence or fortified by sufficient means, may have driven 
some noble spirits to a deed of rashness, which, if un- 
dertaken in auspicious circumstances, and with pros- 
pects of success, would entitle them to rank with the 
nobles heroes and apostles of Liberty." 

On Thursday, 25th July, 1867, "Mortimer Shea, 
alias Captain Moriarty," and Jeremiah Daniel Shee- 
han, were indicted, because " they did, on the 15th of 
January, 1867, and on divers other occasions, feloni- 
ously conspire and intend to depose her Majesty from 
the royal style, title, and queenly dignity of Sovereign 
of Great Britain and Ireland, and did feloniously ex- 
press divers overt acts," &c. Tlie prisoners pleaded not 
guilty, and were " put back." 

Captain Moriarty was brought to trial, at the Kerry 
Assizes, 16th August. The great object of the Govern-." 
ment, on the trial, was to connect the prisoner with 



CAPTAIN MOEXntEH MOEIAETT. 



215 



Colonel O'Connor, and prove, from some experience 
in naval matters, that he was to take charge of the At- 
lantic cable. One Talbot, who had joined the Fenians 
to be a spy on their movements, said he heard that 
Moriarty was the Fenian chief for Kerry. This Talbot 
was a head constable, and appeared in court in uniform, 
decorated with two medals and clasps. On another trea- 
son-felony trial— that of John Goulding*— the same 
day, the testimony given by him was of interest, " if only 
true." He said part of the plan was to seize all the arms 
from the coast-guards and pohce stations, and from aU 
the gentry who had them, and there was a list of these 
prepared for the night of the rising. On the 10th or 
ilth of February, it was settled in Dublin, that there 
should be a rising in Kerry one day after, to bring the 
army here, then break the rails and leave them here. 
I was so much engaged in the business, that they would 
not hold any meeting, night or day, without me; they 
were to have made me Commissary-General ; they took 
me to be the head of the whole thing. 

On his cross-examination, Talbot declined to state 
whether he was attending Fenian meetings at that 
time. He declined for " state reasons." Neither would 
he give the name of the place where their meetings 
were held in Dublin, (where the Kerry rising was 
agreed on,) as " matters were passing there yet." 

The Solicitor General — Meetings connected with 
this conspiracy are stiU held in the same places? 

Mr. Waters — Do you swear that, Mr. Talbot! 

Talbot— I do. 



• Sentenced to five yeare' penal servltndik 



216 



TENIAK HEEOES Am) MAKTYES. 



CAPTAIN MOETIMEB MOEIAETT, 



217 



Judge Keogli — He may tell iJie locality withotit 
names. 

Talbot — Francis street and "Ward's hill ; they also 
settled in the same place the second rising of the 5th 
MarcL 

Mr. Waters — ^Tlntil you came here as a witness, you 
were never in Kerry i 

"Witness — No. 

A Juror — Did you take the Fenian oath ? No. 

Then how did you arrive at the position of Head 
Centre ? I was not Head Centre, but they took me to 
be such. a 

Massey had seen Moriarty in December, 1866, at 
the headquarters, iu New York, and had heard 
him say " he (Moriarty) escaped from Canada after 
the Campo Bello raid." Corydon identified the letter 
found on the prisoner as being ifi the hand-writing 
of O'Connor ;* had been introduced to the prisoner at 
theheadquai-ters, New York, by Colonel Downing, " aa 
a man holding a high position ; frequently heard him 
spoken of at Fenian meetings, in Liverpool, in con- 
nection with the Atlantic cable ; he was well known 
in that locality, being accustomed to naval matters ; 
he was supposed to know how to sever communication 
between Ireland and America." 

On the trial, three witnesses from Cahirciveen, who 
had deposed as to the piisoner's hand-writing, and who 
refused to support their depositions, were ordered by 
the court to be arrested for peijury. 

• We are In a position to state that it was not la the handwiitiiie of O'Connor. 
It was written at his dictation. 



The prisoner's counsel, Mr. Coffey, made an able 
review of tlie case, taking exception to the admission of 
much of the principal evidence, and animadverting on 
the conduct of the detective, Talbot, and the informers. 
He contended that his client had been unfairly and un- 
justly treated, and claim'ed that on an honlcJ; view of 
the case, he would be entitled to a verdict of acquittal. 
The learned gentleman's efforts were, however, vain. 
The next day. Judge Keogh treated the jury to a 
lengthened charge, and, after twenty minutes' consulta- 
tion, they convicted the prisoner, who was sentenced to 
ten years' penal servitude. 

.^_>^pOfe - -■- ■-- ^-^ ■ 



218 



FESIA:; HES0E3 AND MABTTSS. 



JOSEPH NOONAN. 

"Ont " will O'Connor— Arrested In London— Marrelons escape from his a^ 
tors -Re-flrre8ted at Atherstane— Broaglit to Dnblin— Eiot in KUlamey— 
Ti-ial— Sentence. 

The case of Joseph Koonan, one of the Kerry " in- 
ETirgeiits," might have passed over witli nob ijiore than 
the usual local attention bestowed npon such matters, 
if liis desperate attempt to escape from the police in 
England, by leaping from a rail-car speeding at the 
rate of over forty miles an liom*, had not drawn upon 
him commingled feelings of wonder and admiration. 
He had " turned out " with Colonel O'Connor, was 
known to have done so, and to have been probably the 
main instrument of maniiging the escape of several 
leading Fenians from the hunted district. He evaded 
the autboi'ities, but was finally traced to London, where 
lie was arrested on Tuesday, the 30th of April, 1867. 
by a Constable from Ireland. This Constable, Gun-_ 
ning, and a Sergeant, undertook to escort the Fenian 
prisoner to Dublin. The former says in his evidence : 
" Before leaving London, I went with him to the Lon- 
don Bridge Railway station to look after his boxes. 
He told me he was after arri\nng f-om Havre, and his 
boxes were there. We got the boxes r.nd brought liiin 
to the police-station that night. The next day we 



JOSEPH KOONAN. 



219 



took him to the Euston station, where we all three 
took through tickets for Dublin. There was no room 
in the second class, and the station-master put us into 
a first. "We left at five in the evening and arrived at 
llugby that night. About half an hour after leav- 
ing Rugby, he took^a hold of the window strap, 
dropped it, put his foot upon the seat, and went ont of 
the window. The train was going at forty miles an 
hour then. My companion and I were talking at the 
time. "We telegraphed back when the train stopped, 
and went to Tamworth, and the following day to 
Atherstane, where we got a clue." 

After Noonau's escape, the Sergeant and Cxjustable, 
both of whom were as much chagrined, as astonished 
at the daring which had taken their prisoner from 
their very grasp, instituted an active search in the 
neio-hboriiood, beirfg also eflSciently assisted by the 
railway ofiicials and the local police. The ofiicers 
gained no information on Thursday, but, on Friday 
morning, they ascertained that Noonan had been to a 
pawn-shop at Atherstane, pawned his coat, and bought 
a cap. 

Nothing further was brought to light until night, 
when the lodging-houses in the town were searched by 
the police. They found the fugitive prisoner in one 
of these houses, in bed, about ten p. m. He at first 
denied that he was the man; the oiBcers, however, 
had found a letter in the htiuse written by the prisoner 
to his friends, asking tliem to supply him with money, 
which, on being made kno\\'n to him, he at once ac- 
knowledged himself to be the man, and answered any 



220 



rENIAN HEEOES AITD ilAETTKfl. 



qiicstions freely that were put to him. There is no 
doubt th.at hut for tlie Avant of this money Koouan 
would have made good liis escape. 

From his own statement of his escape, it appears 
that he leli the train about three miles nortli of 
Tamworth station, instead of south, as the officers 
surmised. He says he watched his opportunity, 
dropped the carriage window down, and, placing his 
knee and hands on the sill, with, a cat-like spring, shot 
tlu'ouglj tlie window ; he aliglited on his feet, and then 
had a few rolls and got up— beyond the shaking and a 
sliglit scratch on the I'ight side of his fcrehead, ijoth- 
ing the worse for his adventure. As the train at the 
time was traveling fifty miles an hour, it is a most 
miraculons circumstance how the man escaped with 
his life; "and, incredible as tlie feat seems," says one 
of the reporters, who saw him on his arrival in Dub- 
lin, " any pereon, after seeing the man, would feel quito 
read}' to give credence to his statement, which corres- 
ponds in evei-y pai-tieular with the statement of tlie 
officers from wliom he escaped. In appearance he is 
just the man one would expect to find capable of ac- 
conipliihing any such rash feat." 

The prisoner arrived in Dublin on Sunday, the 5th 
May, and was lodged in Kilmainham jaih It was ex- 
pected that he would be brought to Killamey, and the 
people assembled to welcome him, and probably to 
attempt his rescue. lie did not appear, however, and 
the populace took the opportunity of making a demon- 
stration against the magistrate and police, an account 
of which is given in the London Times of 13th May : 



JOSEPH TSOOSiS, 



221 



"A Fenian rict occurred at Killamey on "Wednes- 
day evening. A large crowd of people had assembled 
at the railway station to witness the arnval of Koonan, 
tlie alleged Fenian, whose extraordinarj' escape from a 
train in motion was reported a few days ago. Noonan 
did not arrive, and the crowd turned upon and mobbed 
a party of thirteen policemen, who were in waiting at 
the station, under the command of Mr. Gallwey, J. 
P." Tlie display was continued until the police 
reached their barracks, after Mhich " tiie mob, tui-ni;ig 
downward from tlie barrack and meeting JJr. Giilh 
wey, hooted and yelled at liim, and he was subjected 
to almost as much ill-treatment as tlie police. On go- 
ing into his house, tliey threw stones at liiin, and some . 
of his windows were broken." 

Mr. Noonan M-as subsequently confined in Ka.Ts jail, 
•with Captain Moriarty and Tlionias Garde*, "raid 
when it was necessary to remove liiu'i to Tralce, lie 
was, in view of liis daring proclivities, accompanied 
thence by a heavy escort of police. He was indicted 
for treason-felony and brought to trial at the KeiTy 
Assizes 16th August. -He was identified as one of 
O'Connor's ]5aity, on the morning of the 15th Februaiy, 
that liad refreshments at the liotel at Glenbcigh, and' 
as having got a boat at Glenagli in whicli lie with four - 
otiiers proceeded to Muckruss. On liis trial some in- 
cidents of the lising were given in evidence, which 
were not alluded to on the othei-s. 



• Garde Tvcf. nrrfllmcd fnr having lendercd tlio "Fenian oath " (o one Oils. 
Mm on the 8Ui October, Itca He pleaded not goljty, and was acqulUcd bj 



222 



FENUH HEROES AM) MAfiTTfifl. 



Constable Wm. Dugp;an, wlio was shot while carry- 
ing dsspatches from Kilorglin to Caliirciveeu, and fell 
from his horse, stated, after lying quiet for some time, 
that he got hold of his sword and walked to a cottage, 
into which, after some parley, he obtained entrance : 

"I said I was woundeJ — ^that I wasn't aWe to do anything. 
Tliey then called for Colonel O'Connor to come. in — thattbey had 
lliis man inside. 1 saw a rcFoIver with one of them. That man 
said, ' I am the man that fired at him.' He came tip quite close 
to me and presented a pistol at me. I aslied for a diink of water, 
and tliey madi an old woman belonging to the house go for it. • I 
got some brandy, too, from ColoneJ O'Connor, who had Mr. Anke- 
telfs (S. I., Caliirciveen) sword on him. Colonel O'Connor took 
the despatch I had with me out of my pocket, and read it, and k 
purse I had wiUi 4s. in silver in it. Colonel O'Connor examined 
my wound, and told me to cheer up, and said be got worsshimself 
in the Ameiican service. He promised to send me the pnest and 
doctor as soon as be met tbeni. " 

Mr. Shea, the propriettn- of the hotel at Glenbeigh, 
was acquainted with Noonan, and said that O'Connor 
gave him a slip of pa^jer in acknowledgment of the 
bread taken for his men. The daughter deposed that 
she " gave refi-eshments to twenty or thirty armed in- 
surgents on -the 15th of February, and got a bond of 
the Irish Republic from Colonel O'Coimor as payment. 
Got the rnone}' afterward." 

Noouan M-as convicted and sentenced to seven years' 
penal servitude. 



CAPTAIN JHCHAEL O^OBEZ. 



223 



CAPTAIF MICHAEL O'ROHEE. 

*'0"norke, alias Beeclier"— Birth— Family Emigrate to New York —Memories 
of the Boy Make him a Rebel— Joiue the Phoenix Brigade- Enters the United 
States Service— Irish lyjgion- Sad Scene at the Battle of Spottsylvania— Hl» 
Father Killed— Taken Prisoner— Mustered Ont— Goes lo Ireland— HleDutlM 
in England and Ireland— Narrow Escape from Corydon— Sent to New York. 

In the evidence given by the arch-informer, on the 
trials of Colonel Thomas F. Bonrke, Captain M'Caff- 
erty, and others, the name of Captain O'Rorke, *' alias 
Beecher," is constantly alluded to. He is spoken of 
in connection with the most prominent men and move- 
ments ; as having been present at important consulta- 
tions, and as being the pay-master of the Fenian or- 
ganization in England, through whose hands the funds 
went to officers assigned to certain duties. Sufficient 
allusion is made to him to suggest a man of energy 
and reliability, in whom an abiding trust was placed by 
his superiors and comrades. Events have shown that 
Captain O'Rorke was worthy of the confidence placed 
in him. A trusty soldier of his adopted country, he 
was a no less efficient agent of the cause of his native 
land. 

Michael O'Rorke was bom in August, 1841, in Roe- 
common, Ireland, and is, consequently, now twenty- 
six years old. His family — father, mother, three sis- 



224 



FKNIAN HEE0E8 AOT) MAETEEa. 



ters and a younger brother — emigrated to the TJnv 
ted States in 185i, and arrived in New York in the 
fall of that year. Though leaving home at this early 
age, young O'Rorke was not insensible to the causes 
which had di'iven thousands, as well as his own family, 
from the loved scenes of their nativity. He had seen 
and remembered from childhood the "crow-bar bri- 
gade," and other barbarous appliances of oppression. 
Within his o^vn memory, the once most happy and 
comfortable homes of his neighborhood "were razed to 
the ground, and he had seen grass growing on the 
hearths around which his young heart had be5n made 
glad with merry laughter. The hearth sides were 
cold, the voices gone — some hushed in pauper graves. 
Such scenes made boys men in spirit ; and the boy 
O'Korke wandered why such things were, and if there 
was no remedy for such gigantic evils. He naturally 
thought there must be/ some corrective, though he could 
not then see what it was ; but the thought had suffi- 
cient inspiration in it to make him an -ingrained ene- 
my — even unto death — of the causes of such fraud and 
oppression. 

With these feelings uppermost, he became a soldier 
of Ireland. In the Spring of 1859, he joined the Wolfe 
Tone Gujirds, Company A, First Regiment, Phoenix 
Brigade, commanded by the lamented Captain Francis 
Welpley, a brave and devoted son of Ireland, now, alas, 
numbered among the thousands of true and brave 
hearts lost to her while gallantly fighting for the integ- 
rity of this Kepublic. The Phoenix Brigade was at 
that time being organized, and had for its chief officers, 



CAPTAIN MICHAEL o'eOEKB. 



225 



Doheny, Corcoran, and Colonel Matthew Uni-phy. 
With these patriotic spirits, O'Rorlie was not then ac- 
quainted. It was enough for him, liowevcr, to leam 
that the brigade was to be a body of Irishmen, ready 
to do duty in Ireland. The dreams of his boyhood 
flushed his imagination, and with almost wild delight, 
he hastened to join, with heart and hand, these zealous 
-men, whom he learned to love for their untiring devo- 
tion to the cause of the oppressed. _ 

With unremitting attention, as private, coqx)ral and - 
first lieutenant, he served four j-cars in the Wolfe 
Tone Guards. In 18C2 the organization ofierred its 
^•vices to the Government, as a regiment, and witli it 
O'Rorke entered the service of the United States. "He 
was commissioned as first lieutenant in June, 1862, 
and captain in December following. Of Captain 
O'Rorke, as a soldier, nothing more to his credit can 
be said than that olten cheerfully expressed by those 
with whom he served, from the General to the Colond 
and officers of his regiment — that he was an intelligent, 
brave and efficient officer. Many illustrative instances 
might be adduced, but Captain O'Roi'ke's career shows' 
that he sought more to do his duty than to court 
eulogy or notoriety. His regiment — now the IGith 
N. Y. V. — was ordered to the Spinola Brigade, and re- 
mained with it until General Corcoran arrived from 
his Southern prisons, in New York, (August, 18C2,) 
and commenced organizing the Irish Legion for the 
war. By the unaninions request of the oflicers, the 
IGlth was transferred to the Corcoran Legion, of which 



miO^ 



':£®2?«W5?T(TVr»*7-" 



226 



FENUlf HEEOES Am> ItAETtES. 



4 



it formed a gallant and dasting adjunct, to tlie close 
ol the rebellion. 

It is outside of tlie design of this work to dwell on 
the services of the Irish Legion, which, like its elder 
brother in the field, the Irish Brigade, bore the brunt 
of many a sanguinary fight ; but its name instinctively 
calls lip heroic memories of Corcoran, Murphy, McMa- 
hon, Welpley Butler, Abraham, Egan, O'Connell, 
O Sulhvan, Marony, Hickey, M'Caffrey, Flood, and 
• others hundreds, rank and file, vWio yearned for the 
day they would strike for Irish, as they struck for 
American, freedom. Captain O'Eorke served with 
his regiment, without intermission ; was with it in its 
brightest and darkest days, shared in its every march 
bivouac and battle. Tliere is one field, however, on 
winch he was an actor, to which we are drawn by an 
interest, painfully, harrowingly sad. On it Captain 
U Korke received a wound, more deep and Iastin<r 
more excraciating than any given by blade, or bulle",' 
or ball. Death was preferable to his agony on that 
dayof Spottsylvania, 18th May, 1864, when, in the 
heat of action, he caught the almost lifeless body of his 
fond father ashe was struck do^vn by a bullet from the 
enemy. To be near his son in danger— to see him— 
not to have to wait to hear from him-this levin* 
father entered the service. The son had but time to 
press the dying father to his heart, rest his head a<rainst 
the side of a ditch, and take his position with the ad- 
vancing troops. Who can attempt to paint the an- 
guish of Eorke, who deeply and wholely reciproca- 



t 



CAITAW MtcSAEt o'eoEKE. 227 

ted that love which led his father to face death to be 
near him. The duty which tore him from the side of 
the dying, made him reckless of life. He courted 
death ; but though hundreds were falling around him, 
his agonized desire was not granted, nor did he even 
receive a wound during his entire service. 

At Eeams's Station, 25th August, 1864, he was 
taken prisoner, after seeing his first military instruc- 
tor, the gallant Welpley, literally torn assunder by a 
shell, M-hile leading his command, a Company of the 
Sixty-ninth N. Y. N. G., a portion of the same shell 
also killing another brave officer, Lieutenant Sweeny, 
of the same regiment. 

After undergoing untold hardships in the prison-pMis 
of the " Confederacy," for six months. Captain O'Eorke 
was exchanged in February, 1865, when he returned 
to his regiment, and remained with it to the close of 
the war. The mustering out day at last arrived, and ^ 
out of eight hundred who answered at' the muster^ 
ing in, more than seven hundred left their bones to 
bleach on many a well-contested and bloody field, 
or to rot in some confederate prison yard. The other 
regiments of the Legion — the 69th, 155th and 170th 
N. Y. V. — sustained about similar losses. 

About the first of July, 1865, Captain O'Eorke re- 
turned to his home, in New York, Avhen the Govern- 
ment of the Fenian Brotherhood required his services 
in Ireland. Although, under the circumstances rela- 
ted above, he might have been justified in remaining 
with his family, his sense of the duty imposed on him 
was paramount. Declaring himself ready, he received 



228 



FENTAIT HEE0E8 AlfD MAETTE8. 



liis instructions, left K'ew York on tLe 1-ltli of 
July, and arrived in DuLiin on the 27tli. 

About three montlis were speiit visiting tlie various 
parts of the country, principally the west of Ireland. 
After the seizure of the Irish People, and in view of 
the numerous arrests of active Fenians then made, 
Captain O'Rorke was called on to perform several 
offices fur the organization. Some of these duties led 
him, almost daily, for months, to visit houses most no- 
ted, and whose residents were already watched by the 
authorities. Still, he succeeded in eluding the vigi- 
lance of the detectives. Not only then, but throughout 
the whole period of his labors, he was so successful in 
his management, that he believes he is personally un- 
known to the spies aiid police np to this day. 

"When the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, arrests 
made by the hundred, and Dublin ablaze, Captain 
O'Rorke had not only to see, almost daily, every offi- 
•teer not arrested, but to visit the lodgings of those who 
wei-e, to look after their effects, and settle any claims 
against them wliieh might have been left unpaid. 
When Mr. Stephens was leaving Dublin for the Uni- 
ted States, in l\rarch, 1866, he ordered Captain Oltorke 
to send_ all tlie officers not arrested, then in Ireland, to 
England. This was done, and funds being placed in 
hi= hands for their support, he received the appellation 
of paymaster, or, as the informer and detectives have 
it, " Fenian Paymaster." 

It would not be prudent to enter into details of the 
Captain's sojourn in England. Suffice it to say, he 
remained at his post, providing for his charge, ab'ont 



CAPTAIN MICHAEL O EOEKB. 



229 



fifty officers, and sometimes more. "With others, he 
hoped, and lived with the hope, that an open inove- 
mant would take place in Ireland, in 1806; and left 
nothing in his power undone to farther this design. 
The sequel of Mr. Stephens's unfortunate promise, ' 
which bred such distraction in the home organization, 
is before the world. Captain O'Korke was now called 
upon to perform other, and even more important du- 
ties, of which little can be said, save, indeed, what has 
been already indicated by the evidence. His new dn- -. 
tics led him to visit, at various times, almost the whole 
English organization, and Dublin at least once a month. 
During the very fever of excitement and vigilance of 
both the Irish and English authorities, he successfully 
performed all this, and kept himself and his where- 
abouts unknown to them, until the informer, Cory don, 
gave the latter, and made a bold attempt on the former. 
But on this, as on other occasions, he escaped the snares 
of that wily wretch. Acting on the informer's instmc- ^ 
tions, a posse of detectives and jjolice, led by Major 
Greg, chief of the force, proceeded to O'Korke's lodg- 
ings, in Liverpool, to arrest him. They took every 
precaution, approached the house from thi-ee sides, 
guarded all the entrances, and captured everything, 
from the cellar to the garret. The only trace they 
found of the " paymaster," was his trunk, which they 
broke open, he being safe in Dublin, whither business 
had called him the day before. 

At the time — September, 1866 — ^he had not the re- 
motest idea who gave the information ; but the search 
convinced him that all could not be right. When, 



230 



FENIAN HEEOES A2sT) MAETYES. 



therefore, he returned in a few days to Liverpool, he 
removed his residence to a town a few mUes distant, 
where, fortunately, his exact whereabouts were never 
known to the execrable Cory don. To this circum- 
Btance, is no doubt attributable the fact that Captain 
O'Rorke was enabled to go on performing all his duties 
as before, and meeting Cory don, with the officers, almost 
weekly in Liverpool. O'Korke's suspicions, without 
being centered on any special person, were awakened, 
and ho took the precaution of making his visits to Liv- 
erpool rather irregular, without previous announce- 
ment, and of such short duration in any one place, as 
to defeat any covert enemy. And he had, indeed, a^ 
treacherous foe, one unknown until he saw him on the 
informer's stand. At the Fenian trials, this monster 
acknowledged that he was receiving pay from the Fe- 
nians, through, as he said, " their paymaster in Eng- 
land, Captain O'Eorke, alias Beecher," and that, at the 
same time, he was using his diabolical efforts to sell the 
life of that gentleman, his former companions, and his 
country. 

Notwithstanding that Captain O'Rorke traveled to 
all parts of England, meeting hundreds of persons 
nightly, known to all, each having the conviction that 
his betrayal would insure a large reward, yet it is a 
healthy evidence of uprightness of purpose, to know 
that he experienced no peril, but, on the contrary, was 
shielded with devotion. "Within four months, it has 
been stated that he was as many times arrested; 
but it is gratif3'ing to remark he was safe in the hands 
of his friends, in Xew Tcrk, having been sent there oa 
the business of the organization, in June, 1865. 



STEPHEN JOSEPH MEANT. 



231 



STEPHEN JOSEPH MEAITT. * 

Birth— Early Writings for the Press— PnbliBhes a Volame of Poeme «t Bis- -. 
teen— O'Connell's Reporter- Establishes the Irish Untional Mn^'arjne— In 
the Clnhs- On the Insk TVtiime— Brenan and Meany Test the Right of the 
Polite to Soil the National Jonmals— Arrested nnder the Suspension of Ba^ 
bras Corpus, 184S— Released— JonrDallem— Emigrates to the United States— 

* Editor of the Toledo romTTicrcia;, Ohio— Centre- At the Third Congri'ss— A 
Sunator— Address to the Parent Trunk of Fenianism— Resolntions at Jones' 
Wood— Goes to England— Arrested— Tried for Treason-Felony- Fine Speech 
in the Dock— Exposes Overtures made to him to Betray the Fenians — Sen- 
tenced. 

The case of Stephen Joseph Meany has attracted pe- . 
culiar atteiition, and thrown light upon a public car- 
reer of devotion to Ireland, which it is gratifying to 
record. On the N ational side of Irish politics from 
boyhocKi, Meany was up to every progressive move- 
ment which, in our day, lifted politics into the domain • 
of patriotism. He does not now suffer for the first 
time for entering wisely and well into the agitations • 
exposing the misgovernment of his country, or advo- 
cating measures to achieve her independence. In 1848, 
he shared the hopes and penalties of that brilliant band 
of poets, authors and journalists, whose writings, not 
less than their aspirations, chivalry and sufferings, 
were sufficient to make that year an ever-memorable 
epoch in the annals of Irish intellect and progress. 

Stephen Joseph Meany was bom at New Hall, near 
Eimis, County Clai-e, Ireland, in December, 1825. Af- 



i.i. JlU!UllJI.I.|yW|ip.lilJMIil 



. i mUH!i!M|iill 



2S2 



FENIAK EEEOKS >a-it) MAETTR8. 



ter jiiepav 'uiy btiidies, he adopted the profession of; 
rciHii-ter and jom-nalist, and became distinguished as a 
iijost capable sliort-iiand writer when little more than 
fifiecn years old. A vivacious and romantic intellect 
natnraliy found expression in poesy ; and the kind re- 
ception given to some contributions to the Ctor^ Jovr- 
nal and a Dublin weekly, bearing the signatures of 
"Abelard," "Werner," &c., induced the author to 
print a volume, which he did in ISil, with the title 
" Shreds of Fancy." This book, which was dedicated 
to Sir Michael 6'Loghlen, Bart., Master of the EoUs, 
is in some respects remarkable, as evincing, not 
only a facility, but a felicity, in diction and versifica- , 
tion, of more than .usual maturity in one so young. 
■ The tender afiections, of course, were the main inspira- 
tion of the youthful baid ; but love of country found 
expression happily prophetic of the author's patriotic 
future. -About the same time, young Meany an- 
nounced " The Terry Alt ; a Tale of 1S31," in three 
volumes, which necessarily embraced illustrations of 
the state of the country. ; 

During 1843-i, the era of the monster meetings, 
when O'Connell convened the people on Tara Hill, 
at lilullao-hraast and Clontarf— beacons and battle- 
grounds of Irish glory and j-etribution— and inspired 
them with feelings never to "be gratified by him, 
Meany was entrusted with the position of chief of the 
Freeman's Jourml staff. "His tact and facihty.in re-^ 
producing the "Liberator," caused him to be distin-" 
gnished as " O'Connell's Eeporter.". The enthusiasm 
of his nature, not less than Iris literary leanings, as a 



Stephen Joseph loiAivr. 



233 



matter of course, led the active journalist into thepi'-o 
grcsiive ranks of the Young Ireland partv. In 184! 
he made a most laudable attempt to estabfish a cred 'it 
able weekly periodical, in Dublin, of the same cliara'c 
ter as Chamlers' Edh^urgh Journal. This publica- 
tion. The Irish National Magazine, was in every wfiy 
inost creditable, but did not continue probably mo^a 
tnan six months. . • 1 ' 

_ In 1848, Mr. Meanj hecame an active propagandist 
in the Confederate Clubs, and soon entered stifl more 
prominently on the path of danger. John Mitchels 
, powerful appeals, coupled with the excitement bred of 
. the European upheaving, and especially by the three 
days of Paris, had created a fervor which swept the 
eaders-almost against tlieir wiU-into the considerJ^- 
tion of revolutionary means and measures. As he stJ. 
ted on his trial, Mitehel provoked the viceroy into his 
courts of justice-as places of the kind are called-and 
forced the Government publicly and notoriously to 
packajury to conv.ot him. He was convicted, and 
permitted to leave the island. In the series of retrj- 
Ei)ect.ve letters published with the title of"TheLasfc 
Conquest of Ireland, (Perhaps,)" Mitehel give, an idea 
of the sens3 of duty governing those who took up his 
cause. He says : * i- ^ 

"The fierce enthusiasm of our confederates was re- 
doubled after my removal. Tiiey lioped at least that 
;f tlH^y were resti-amed from action then, it was to some 
good end, with some sure and weU-defined purpose^ 

•''Lii5tConqa«t,''LcUa-xxsiI,p. £31 " ' 



234 



KENIAl? HEROES AIvD MAETTR3. 



and there -srere many tlionsands of men tlien in Ireland, 
Avlio longed and burned for that end and that purpose; 
to earn an honorable death. How the British system 
disappointed them of even an honorable death, remains 
still to be told. A man can die in Ireland of hunger, 
or of famino-typhus, or of a broken heart, or of deliri- 
itm ireme?is / but to die for your country — the death 
dulce ei decorum — to die on a fair field, fighting lor 
freedom and honor, to die the death even of a defeated 
soldier, as Hofer died ; or eo mucli as to mount the 
gallows like Robert Emmet, to pay the penalty of a 
glorious treason- — even this was an euthanasia whicli 
British policy could no longer afford' to an Irish na- 
tionalist. , ■ ' : 

" Yet, with all oads against them, with the Irish 
gentry thoroughly corrupted or frightened out of their ' 
senses, and with the "government" enemy obviously 
bent on treating our national aspiration as an igno- 
minious crime, worthy to be ranked only with the of- 
fences of burglars or pickpockets-f-still, there were 
men resolved to dare the worst and uttermost for but 
onf) chance of rousing that down-trodden people to one 
manful effort of resistance against' so base and cruel a 
tyranny. The Irish Confederation," re-constituted its 
council, and set itself more diligently than ever to the 
task of inducing the people to pro<;ure arms, with a 
view to a final struggle in the harvest. As it waa, 
clear that there was nothing the enemy dreaded so 
much as a bold and honest newspaper, wliicli woulcf 
expose their plots of slaughter, and turn their liberal 
professions inside out, it was, before all thing?, ncces- 



STEPHEN JOSEPH MEANT. 



235 



sary to establish a newspaper to take the place of the 
c/n lied Irishman. 

" It was a breach as deadly and imminent as ever 
yawned m a beleaguered wall; but men were found 
prompt to stand in it. Within two weeks after my 
tnal, the Irish Tribune was issued, edited by O'Doher- 
ty and Williams, with Antisell and Savage as contri- 
butors."* . - _ 

lleany became connected with the Tribune as sub- 
editor and contributor, and at once attracted the watch- 
ful attention of the authorities. His writings at this 
cns,s werepeculiarly forcible in style, and more thau 
usually pomted in suggestiveness. Take the follow- 
ing passage for instance, which is as suitable to-dav 
as m Jnlyj '43 : • -^ 

"Frcethouglits-frecmen~fiv««on for Ireland! Theseare th« 
^rcd nsbts of Nature. .Vc „s!c not freedom becau aTa,' 
once free ; u^ .rust not to such frail and f.ivolous auxiliariea. Wo 
a-k freedom because we have a right to be free. Usa^e prece 
dents, authonuos and statutes sink into insigniQcnee bef rj s' 
r. bt We seek our remedies in nature, and throw onr parchment 

„,,.,,. l«-<"oree. bo httle is plam sense heard In thp 

m,.,.onon3 nonsea.^ which is the cloak of poHtical fc„.d, that tho 



•The 



cD.ori^ C. ^ , i\ ""'^ ^"""'- ^•''H" T. Mejlur my- 

cn.„. M.h..c,^Bohcny .„, s,ephenJ.Me..,..u.^h;Z 
l-=IriofIn Apri which the „„i- ^ '"""' ""^ "^^-'f '•"d i-™<^<' 
"I, mo Eloik in the hards nf fhn ,r.„,i._, .... . ' 



rcK. 



■-rd. 



!iid It 

wrote the 



J.^I..I the ••Trih,;ne '"^'r^i Z'Z'^,'V'7^'^i' "'" '"= «"''="• "''-> '1>™ pro- 



l - ^ ^JJW W ^ ,' '".?^-J-i'«W'*'?S9' 



236 



FENIAN nEK0E3 AKD MASTTEa. 



CoT:?s, and Bl.icUstoncs, nnd other jurists, speak tis if onr right to 
ficcclo:ii ileptn.lcd on il3 possijsjioii by our ancestors. In the coai- 
iiKiu (us:s of mor.ilily we wouUl bhiih at such an absurdity. No 
m;'.n ivould jusli'y inur.lu'r for its aiiliquily, or stigmatize benevo- 
lence for beiiij novel. The genealogist who would emblazon the 
one as coeval with Cain, or deuouucc the other as upstait with 
Howard, would be disclaimed even by the most frantic partisan of 
aviftocraey. This Gothic transfer of genealogy to truth and jus- 
tice is peculiar to politics. The existence of robbery in one age 
ma!;es its vindication in the next; and the champions of freedom 
have abnndoncd the stronghold of right' for precedent, -whicli Is 
ev.-r fjebl3, fluctfliling, partial and equivocal. I repeat, it is Kor 

r.EOArsE WE IIAVK BEES FREE, BUT BECArSE WE HAVE S. KIOIIT TO 

BE FUEE, THAT ws ODGiiT to D3MAUD Fr.F.EDoM. Justicc and Lib- 
City Lave neither birth nor race — youth nor age. "Let us hear no 
more then of this ignoble and ignominious pedigree of freedom — • 
let us hear no more of her Saxon, D;^nish, Norman, or Celtic nn- 
cestiirs — let the immo'tiil daughter of Reason, of Justice, and o' 
Qjd be no longer confounded witli the spuiious abortiijns tliat 
have usurped ber name.. \; ' . . 

"Primary politic-al truths arc few nnd simple; it is easy to 
make them understood. : A government may be made to bo rc- 
Ej>ected, not because it is aucient, not because it has been estab- 
lished by l)arou3 or applaiided by priests, but because it is useful. 
Jlen may easily be induced to maintain rights wliicb it is their in- 
tjrostto maintain, or dj|it;s w'hick it is their interest to perform. 
T.iisis i.heoxi.Y p;inciple pf nuthorily tliat does not violate justico 
and insult humanity; itis also the only one which can possess 
Etahility. 

" Is tliis principle an ingredient of English rule in Ireland V' * 

The TTcek following ^vc find Ifenny reviewinix, in a 
troiicliatit manner, tlie political incidents of tlie dn^-. 
lie dctih pliiiisly nnd boldly witji tliem, !' ^Ye will 



• TrccU for tlic Tribanc"— /ris* Tribune, July 1, 1813. 



61-EPHE.V JOSEPn MEANY. 



237 



not, he says, «,ndtilgo in homilies of moral mys- 
jct.m b.tter_adapted to the amnscment of a people 
. l.at. to thetr .ttstruction. Sttoh thitigs are not fitted 
for the tttne. Ho^ do not leave their hearths and 
hotnes and expose themselves, their fortttnes and their 
clHtdren o nnn.inent peril, withont deep and dreadful 
cause. Anytlung like a general or national move- 
meat mnst be the restilt of Ion. misgovernment." 
He tmplores the people to train, to drill, and to arml 
and concludes Ins t.mely exliortatioa with these words 
pointing to something more than . 

'•The Tribune's tongue and poet's penl" 
"With organization, confidence, strength and arms 
-with a training and drilling, not only of the animal, 
but of the intellectual man, with our harvest alread^ 
rq|en.ngmaJulysun, with everything in onr moral 
and physical condition to insure success-wliy with 

c"T ■~ 7. "■■'" '^''''* of triumpb.and tlien- 
God oe merci u to tne rampant rufiianism of En^l'sh 
lau-s and English Government!" " ° 

A circumstance occurred about this period whicli is 
^"nsrrative of Meany's manly sense of Justice, as weU 
as of the violent state of lawlessness which the Govem- 
inent was forced to adopt in its conflict with- the pa- 
tiiot.. M.tcliel was right when be said there was 
nonung the Government dreaded so much as a boll 
an Iionest journal. The Irisk Trihcn. was quid h 
ollo^red by the appearance of the Irish FclonX that 
he.ewe.-e two ij^irless national journals in t^e capi- 
tal, be=iues the Nation, which bad received a healthy 



238 



FENIAW HEROES AND MABTTES. 



impetus by the necessity exhibited in the popnlarity 
of its yoiniger rivals. Every possible obstruction was 
placed iu tlie way of the circulation of the Tribune 
and Fdoii. The news venders were seized by the po- 
lice and detectives not in uniform, and the papers for- 
cibly taken from them. 

On Monday, the 10th July, two days after the ar- 
rest of the editors of these journals, a large force of 
police proceeded to Trinity street, where the offices 
were located, and made a foray on the news venders. 
The same system having been pursued on the Satur- 
day previous — and to such an extent that private indi- 
viduals of the highest respectability, as welf as 
the poor venders, were forcibly deprived of the 
papers they had bought — greatly irritated the gen- 
tlemen connected witli the papers, and suggested 
to some of them the necessity of testing the power 
of the police. The action of the police attract- 
ed a large crowd. Meany, on the part of the 
Triljune, and Joseph Brenan, on the part of the 
Felon, procured copies of the respective papers, and, 
exhorting ths venders to resist the confiscation of their 
goods, boldlj' went into the street and offered the pa- 
pers for sale. The matter was taking a tangible form, . 
and numbers went forward to purchase, and thus show 
their antagonism to the illegality being enacted. The 
police interfered, and demanded the papers. Meany 
and Brenan peremptorily refused. The excitement in- 
creased ; the journalists offering their wares, the police 
demanding them, the former resisting, and the crowd 
cheering. The detective police, by their own testimo- 



«H^.4,l yWBW 



BTEPHEN JOSEPH MEAIfT. 



239 



ny, were kicked and cuffed and dragged in the excite- 
ment, and Meany and Brenan were arrested for as- 
sault, and conveyed to the College street station, fol- 
lowed by considerable numbers, who repeatedly and 
loudly cheered them. The excitement before the Ma- 
gistrate lost nothing in interest, Brenan defending 
himself; and it being generally supposed— from the 
usages of those days— that the gentlemen were 
about being committed to Newgate, under the 
" Gagging Act," for their writings. Brenan's talent 
for satire, which he leveled at the " authorities " in 
the court room, did not benefit him. It was decided 
to accept bail, but to send his case for trial; whfle 
Meany, being legally defended, was set free on his own 
recognizance. 

Both parties had thoroughly aroused the vindinctive 
watchfulness of the Castle officials; and having left 
Dublin on the suspension of the Habem Cbr^Act, 
and the consequent scattering of the leaders to the 
Luis, were arrested together in the west, while seeking 
some sphere of action to precipitate revolution. 

Meany was in the clutches of tlie Government for 
about nme months ; a prisoner in Belfast, Newgate 
(Dublm) and Kihnainham jails. The friendship which 
kindred sympathies suggested between Meany and 
Brenan in the streets of Dublin, was strengthened in 
prison, and some poetical illustrations of it have been 
prmted, which have an additional interest, now that 
l>renan, (one of the brightest intellects of the era,) is no 
>'>'>re, and that Meany-re-enacting, as it were, the 
earher phases of his life which brought them- together 



240 



FENIAN HEROES AND HAETYE8. 



maj- ponder on the association ^vhicll bronght a " gleam 
ofsniiliglit" into his cell wliile tenanting it yeai"s ago. 

After^Mr. !Meany's release from prison, ■wliicli took 
place on Srd March, 1849, he became editor of a pajier 
in the South of Ireland, and subsequently followed his 
profession in England. He was for several years asso- 
ciated with Mr. Whitty, of the Liverpool Daily Post 
aivd Journal, as chief of the staif of that journal, and 
■was first president of the Liverpool Press Association 
before leaving the Old Country — a position " for 
wlu'ch his honhommie and graceful talent in a social 
sense, as well as his professional experience, ■well 
fitted liim." 

Mr. ]\Ieany emigrated^ to the United States some 
seven or eight years ago, and pi'oceeding to the West, 
settled in Ohio, at Toledo, where he became editor 
and proprietor of the Cominercial, and subsequently, 
Centre of the circle of the Fenian Brotherhood of that 
locality. In the latter capacity he attended the third 
Ifational Congress of the Brotherhood, held at Phila- 
delphia, October, 1865. On the appointment of two 
from each State and District to form a Committee on 
Government, Constitution and By-laws, Mr. Meany 
was one of the two selected to represent Ohio ; and on 
the adoption of the new Constitution, creating a Presi- 
dency, Senate, and Hoiise of Delegates for the Govern- 
ment of the Brotherhood, he Avas elected a Senator. 

When the division in the ranks of the Fenian Bro- 
therhood occurred, he was one of the three Senators 
who refused to secede; and when thefomth National 
Congress assembled in New York, January 2, 1866, 



STEPHEN JOSEPH MEAHY 



241 



and " restored the Fenian organization to its original 
simple and effective form," Mr. Meany received the 
thanks of the Brotherhood, and was elected -District 
Centre for Ohio. He almost immediately started on an 
organizing tour, and returned in time to participate in 
the great Jones' Wood meeting of the 4th March. 
Here he presented a suggestive preamble and resolu- 
tions, of which the following are a portion : 

Whereas^ It Is now manifest that Ireland, so long held in Tas- 
saline by the Gjvernmsnt of England, is now ftboat to strike de-' 
tenniuudly for hor freedom and independence; and 

ir/jerea?, As we, as Aoi-rican citizens, bave a perfect right to 
assemble and bestow any material aid upon uny people desiring to 
be free ; and whereas, during the late unhappy differences between 
the States of this Union, the Irish people assembled en masse in 
the R )tunda of Dublin, and with one accord sympathized with 
and expressed the hope of a speedy re-unian of the American 
Slates ; therefore, 

i23?oJued,— l.We, citizens of the United States, native and 
adopted, hereby tender our heartfelt sympathies to the struggling 
patriots of Ireland, and assure them that they shall from thne to 
lime receive from us encouraging words and the sinews of defence 
to the very extent of our ability to aid. 

3. That the suspension of the writ of ^a5eas Cbrpiw by Pariia- 
ment and Crown of England is ipso facto an acknowledgment of 
the fact that Ireland is in a state of war, and by aU the rules of 
civilized warfare, entitled to all the rights of belligerent parties. 
♦ ♦ * » • • • 

6. That as England assumss the right by virtue of mi-ht to de- 
clare war agamst the Insh people, we, citizens of the United States, 
reiterate our right to extend oui- sympathies to the cause of Irish 
nationality, and with the cause of the Irish patriot. Lone liva 
the Irish RepnbUcl ^ ^^o 



242 



FENIAN UEE0E9 AND MAHTTHB. 



On St. Patrick's Day, Mr. Meany addressed the 
citizens of Pouglikeepsie with eloquence and earnest- 
ness, giving an interesting sketch of his early escperi- 
ence of the festival in his native county of Clare, and 
conjuring up the tender associations of the day which 
fills the breast of every Irishman. He subsequently- 
spoke at a series of great demonstrations in Philadd-i 
]iliia, and proceeded on his tour through the greafc 
AYest, where his energy was conspicuously effective. 

Mr. Meany's predilections lor journalism and en- 
thusiasm in the Irish cause led him, in July, 1866, to 
start a journal for the advocacy of the lattef in New 
York. It did not prosper; and after settling his 
business, Mr. Meany went to England to visit some 
members of his family. 

He was arrested in London, conveyed to Mountjoy 
prison, Dublin, and committed for trial on the charge 
of Treason-felony. The Commission of Oyer and 
Terminer was opened on the 13th April, 1867. And 
Mr. Meany was arraigned on a charge of Treason- 
felony. He plead not guilty. Mr. O'Loghlen applied 
for a bill of particulars of the overt acts, which 
•was denied by the Attorney-General. Mr. Meany 
was found guilty by the jury of making certain 
speeches in New York, and offering Fenian bonds 
for sale. The wretched creature who played the 
role of informer in his case, was a Joseph Devany, 
who lived in New York for " eighteen or nineteen 
years ;" became a member of the Shields' Circle in 
October, 1865, and was subsequently Secretary of a 
Circle, and was sent to Ireland in January, 1867, tg 



BTEPHKN JOSEPH HEART. 



243 



give the needful Information, by one of the agents of 
the British, who have been watchmg events in New 
York and elsewhere for the past few years. 

The presiding Judge, Barou Hughes, refused to 
sentence Mr. Meany, on the ground that the court had 
no jurisdiction in the case. The points raised by 
Baron Hughes were subsequently argued before the 
Court of Error, when six of the Judges gave judg- 
ment affirming the verdict of the jury, and four dig- 
sented. As a consequence, Meany was brought up 
for sentence ; and on Friday, 21st June, 1867, in an- 
swer to the usual question, at the Commission of Oyer 
and Terminer, he delivered the foUowing exceedingly- 
able speech, which, from the peculiarity of the case, 
and the probabUity that it will be the basis of some 
international action, is worthy of careful perusal It 
is, moreover, a worthy and able culmination of Mea- 
ny's efforts in the cause of his country. It is scarcely 
necessary to draw the especial attention of the reader 
to the base overtures made to the prisoner, in his diffi- . 
cnlty, by the British Government, the officers of. 
which had asked him to give evidence for the Queen 
against the members of the Fenian party just arrested 
at Dungarvan, in the County Waterford. 

As Meany ahnost madly scorned the insulting pro- 
position in the cell, he manfully exposed it in the 
dock ; and also the prospect of hberation in six months 
tendered to him, if he would plead guilty to the 
charges m the indictment; which he, as a man and 
an American Citizen, would not and could not do— 
knowing he had committed no crime. 



244 



TENIAE HEROES AKD MAEXrBS. 



The Cleric of the Oo\vii asked if the prisoner had 
anything to say why sentence of death should not be 
passed upon him ? 

Mr. Meany — ^Jlost certainly 1 have. I have much to eay. There 
are many reasons I could offer why sentence should not — cannot — 
be pronounced upon me according to law, if seven months of ao- 
solute solitary imprisonment, and the almost total disuse of speech 
during that period, has left me energy enough, or even language 
suflBcient for the purpose. But, yielding obedience to a sugges- 
tion coming from a quarter entillad to my respect, as well, indeed, 
as in accordance with my own feelings, I avoid eveiything that 
could bear the aspect of speech-making for outSde elfecL Be- 
sides, the harned counsel, who have so ably represented me during 
these proceedings, and the learned judges who, in the Court of 
CriDiinal Appeal, gave judgment for me, have exhausted all that 
could be said on the law of the case. Of their arguments and 
opinions your lordships have judicial knowledge. I need not say 
that, both in interest aud ui conviction, I am in agreement witli, 
aud adopt the constitutional principles laid down by the minority 
of the judges in tliat couit ; but I have, at the same time, suffi- 
cient respect for the dignity of the comt, and sufficient regard, I 
hope, for what is due to m^'self, to concede fully aud fi-ankly to 
the majority a conscientious view of a novel, and, perhaps, diffi- 
cult question. 

But I do not seek too much in asking that before your lordships 
proceed to pass sentence, you will consider the manner in which 
the court was divided on the question — that you will bear in mind 
that the minority declaiing against the legality of the trial, and 
the validity of the conviction, was conijMsed of some of the ablest 
judges on the Irish b;;nch, or on any bench — that one of the 
learned judges who had presided at the trial in the Commission 
ConrtjWas one of the most emphatic in the Court of Appeal in de- 
claring against my liability to be tried ; and, moreover — and smely 
he ought to have known that there was not a particle of evidence to 
Eustain the case set up at the last moment, and relied ni)on by the 



STEPHEN JOSEPH MEAOTT. 



245 



Crown— that I was an "accessory before the fact" in that fammis 
Dublin overt act, for which as an aforethought of tlie Crown, I 
was tried though not indicted ; and I ask you further to bear in 
mind that the afBrmance of the conviction was had— not on ti.\ed 
principles of law— for the question was unprecedented— Ijut on a 
speculalive view of a suppositious case ; and I must say, a stmined 
application of an already overstrained and dangerous doctrine— 
the doctrine of constructive crkninality— the doctrine of making a 
man at a distance of three thousand miles and more, legaUy re- 
sponsible for the words and acts of othere whom he nevlr saw, 
and of whom he never heard, on the snpiTOsition that he Wiis a 
co-conspirator. Fortified by such facts— with a court so divided, 
and with the opinions of the judges so expressed— I submit that 
neither acconling to act of Pariiament, nor in conformity with the 
practice at common law— no, not m any way in pursuance of the 
supposed principle of that apocryphal abstraction- -that magnifi- 
cent myth— the British Constitution, am I amen.able to the'sen- 
tencc of this court— of any court m this country. True, I am in 
the toils ; and it may be vain to discuss how brought mto them. 
True, a long and dreaiy imprisonment— shut away from all associ- 
ation or converse with humanity— the humiliations of prison dis- 
ciphne— the hai-dships of prison fai'e— the handcuffs and the heartr 
burnings — this court, and its surroundings of power and authority • 
all these are hard practical facts, which no amount of mcUgnait 
protests can negative— no denunciation of the wrong refine away • . 
and it may be, as I have said, worse than useless, v^ and absurd,' 
to question a right where might is predommant 

But the invitation just extended to me by the officer of the court 
—if it mean anythmg— if it be not like the rest, a solemn mockery 
—gives me. I presume, sttll the poor privUege of complauit. And 
I do complain. I complain that law and justice have been alike 
violated in my regard ; I complain that the much-belauded attri- 
bute, British fair play, has been for me a nullity; I complain that 
the pleixsant fiction known in the books as pereonal freedom, has 
hail a most unpleasant illustration m my pci'son ; and I tiuther- 
more and particulaily complam tliat, by the design and contriv- 
ance of what are facetiously termed "the authorities," I have 



246 



FENIAN HEE0K8 Alrt) MAKXTES. 



been kidnapped in England, and brought to this coiittlt, «<* tttt 
trial, but for condemnation— not for justice, but for judgment 1 
■wUl not tire the patience of the court, nor exhaust my owtt 
Btrength, by going over the history of this painful case. But, be- 
fore I proceed further, my lords, there is a matter which, as ttin- 
ply personal to myself; I should not mind, but which, as involving 
high interests to the community, and serious consequences to indi- 
viduals, demands a special notice— I allnde to tie system of manB- 
facturing informers. I want to know if this court can inform me 
by what right an officer of the crown entered my solitaiy cell «t 
Kihnainham Prison, on Monday last— unbidden and unexpected- 
uninvited and undcsired. I wyit to know what justification there 
was for his coming to insult me in my solitude and in m^ sorrow 
—ostensibly informing me that I was to be brought up for sent«ii« 
on Thursday, and in the same breath adroitly putting to me tbe 
question if I knew any of the men recently arrested near DongW- 
van, and now in the prison of Kilmainham. Coming with & ie- 
t«cUve dexterity, cartjing in one hand, as it were, a threat of Bt«- 
tence and punishment— in the other, as a counterpoise, a tempta- 
tion to treachery. Why would a responsible officer of the crown 
suppose that seven months of imprisonment had so brokai m^ 
spirits as well as my health, and that I would be -an easy prfcy to 
bis blandishments! Did he dr«am that the prospect of liberty 
which newspaper rumor and semi-official information held out t6 
me, was too dear to be forfeited by a "trifling " forfeiture of honor! 
Did he beUeve that by an act of secret turpitude I would open n^ 
prison doors only to close them the faster on others who mayor 
may not have been my friends; or did he imagme that he had 
found in me a Massey, to be moulded and manipulated in tbe ser- 
vice of the Crown, or a Coiydon, to have his conscience and cu- 
pidity made the incentive to his baseness » I only wonder how 
the interview ended as it did ; but I knew I was a prisoner, and 
my self-respect interposed for his safety and my patience. Great 
as have been my humiliations in prison, hard and heart-breaking 
as have been the ordeals through which I have passed smce the 
1st of December last, there was no incident or event fraught with 
more pain on the one hand, or more euggestiveness on the other, 



STEPHEN JOSEPH MEANY. 



247 



than this sly and secret attempt at improvising an informer. I am 
forget the pain in view of the suggestiveness ; and, unpleasant as 
is my position here to-day, I am almost glad of the opportunity 
which may end in putting some check to the spy system in prisons. 
How many men have been won from honor and honesty by the 
secret and stealthy visit to the cell, is more than I can say. How 
many have had their weakness acted upon, or their wickedness 
fanned into flame, by such means, I have no opportunity of know- 
ing. In' how many frailty and folly may have blossomed Into 
falsehood, it is for those concerned to estimate. There Is one 
thing, however, ceitain : operating in this way is more degrading 
to the tempter than, to the tempted, and the Government owes it to 
itself to put an end to a course of tactics, pursued in its name, 
which, in the results, can only bring it to humiliation. The pub- 
lic are bound, in self-protection, to protect the prisoner from the 
prowling vists of a too zealous ofiicjaL I pass over these things, 
my lords, and I will ask your attention to the character of the evi- 
dence on which alone my conviction was obtained — ^the evidence 
of a special, subsidized spy, and of an infamous and ingrate in- 
former. I need not say that in aU ages, and amongst all peoples, 
the spy has been held in marked abhonence. In the amnesties of 
war, there is for him alone no quarter — in the estimate of sodal 
life, no excuse ; his self-abasement excites contempt, not compas- 
sion — ^his patrons despise while they encourage ; and they who 
Btoop to enlist tlie services, shrink with disgust from the moral 
leprosy covering the servitor. Of such was the witness put for- 
ward with the design of corroborating the informer, and still not 
corroborating him. Of such was that phenomenon — a police spy^ 
who actually declared himself on that table an unwUling witness 
for the Crown. Did anyone believe him ? There was no reason 
why he should have been reluctant ; he confessed that he had not 
known me previously, and there could not have been personal 
feeling in the matter. But I have no desire to speak harshly of 
Inspector Doyle ; his bread depended on his acquiescence ; he 
swore in presence of the CrowTi Solicitor, and was not contradict- 
«-<l, that he was compelled by tlireats to ascend the witness-table. 
The man may have had cogent reasons for his reluctance, in his 



248 



FENIAH HEBOEB AKD UAITFTBB. 



own coiiRoicncc ; God will jiirige him. But how phall I speak of 
tlie infomier, Mr. John Dovany 1 What language should be em- 
ployed to describe the traitor spy — the man who adds to the guilt 
of perfidy to his a.ssociate.s, the deep and damning curse of peifldy 
to his God — the man who, eating of your bread, sharing your con- 
fidence, and holding, as it were, your very purse-stringB, all the 
time meditates your overthrow, and pursues it to its accomplish- 
ment. IIow proud the wretch who, under pretext of agreement 
in your opinions, worms liimself into your secrets only to betray — 
who, upon the same altar with you, pledges his faith and fealty to 
the same princij)le8, and then sells faith, and fealty, and principles, 
and you alike, for tlie unhallowed Judas guerdon. Of such, on 
his own confession, was that distinguished upholder of t|je British 
Clown and Goveiiiment — Mr. Devany. With an effrontery that 
did not falter, and knew not how to blush, he detailed his own 
pailicipation in the acts for which he was giving evidence against 
me as a participator. And is evidence of this kind — a conviction 
obtained upon such evidence — any warrant for u sentence depriv- 
ing a man of liberty — of all that malces life enjoyable or desirable 
— hon»e, fritude, and family ? It is needless to describe a wretch 
of that stamp — his actions speak his character. It were superflu- 
ous to curse him ; his whole existence will be a living curse. No 
necessity to use the burning words of the poet, and pray — 

Hay llfa'a nnbleBeed ccp for him 

Be dragged with treacheries to the brim. 

Every sentiment, in his regard, of the country he lias dishonored 
and the people he has humbled, will be one of hate and horror of 
the informer ; every sigh sent up fiom the hearts he has crushed, 
and ihe homes he has made desolate, will be mingled with execra- 
tions of the very name. Every heart-throb in the prison cells of 
this land, wliere his victims count time by conoding thought — 
every grief that finds utterance from these victims, amidst the in- 
dignities of the convict gangs in the quariies of Portland, will 
ascend to Heaven freigliled with curses on the Nagles, the Deva- 
seys, the Uaseeys, the Gillespies, the Corydons, and the wholo 



STEPHEN JOSEPH MEAMT. 



249 



host of mercenary miscreants faithless to who, their friends and 
recreant to their principles, have (paraphiasing the words of Moore) 
taken tlieir pertdies to Heaven, seeking to make nn accomplice of 
tlieir God ; wretches who, for paltry pay, or from pidtiy fear, have 
embalmed their memories in imperishable infamy, and consigned 
their accursed names to an inglorious immoiliiiity. Nor wiU I 
speculate on their career in the future. We have it on the best 
authority extant, that a distinguished informer of antiquity, seized 

with remorse, threw away his blood money — his pieces of silver 

and "went forth and hanged himself with a halter." We know 
that in modem times — even witliin the memory of some still living 
— a government in this country actua'ly set the edifying and 
praiseworthy example of hanging an informer when they had no 
further use of liis valuable services — thus dropping his acquaint- 
ance with ijfvct. God knows I have no wish fur such a fate to 
any of the informers who have cropped out so luxuriously in these 
latter days— a long life, and a troubled conscience would, perhaps, 
be their best punishment ; but, certainly, there would be a co- 
incident compensation, a poetic justice, in a termination so exalted 
to a career so brilliant I leave these scoundrels, and turn for » 
moment to their victims. 

And here I would, without atiy reference to my own case any 

j-egard to the fate before myself— earnestly implore that sympathy 
with poUtical prisoners should not b» merely telescopic in ita 
character, distance lending "enchantment to the view ;" and that 
when your statesmen sentimentalize upon, and your journals de- 
nounce far away tyrannies — the horrors of Neapolitan dungeons, 
the abridgement of personal liberty in Spain, and the exercise of 
arbitrary power in other European countries — they would turn 
their eyes homeward, and examine the treatment of their own po- 
litical prisoners. I would, in all Eincerity, suggest that liumano 
and wi.'ll-meaning persons, who exert themselves by prayer and pe- 
tition for the remission of the death penalty, as a mercy, should 
ratlwr pniy and petition that the long death of solitary and S'lent 
caplivity hhouM be remitted to the more mcrcifGl doom of immo- 
diate relief from suffering by immed:ate execution— the opportuni- 
ty, at least, of an immediate appeal from man's cruelty to Qod't 



250 



FENIAS HEBOSS AST) UABTTBS. 



Justice, I speak strongly on this point, because I feel ft deeply, 
my lords ; and I speak not without example. At the Commisaoii 
at which I was tried, there was tried also, and convicted, a young 
man named StowelL I well remember that raw and dreary morn- 
ing, the 12th of March, when, handcuffed to Stowell, I was srait 
from Kilmainham Prison to the County Jail of Kildare. I well 
remember our traversing, so handcuffed, from the town of Salins 
to the town of Naas, ankle deep in snow and mud ; and I recall 
with pain our sad forebodings of that morning. These, la part, 
have been fulfilled. On Sunday after Sunday at chapel in lie j«a, 
I saw poor Stowell drooping and dying. One such Sunday, the 
12Ui of May, passed, and I saw him no more. On Wednesday, 
15th May, I accidentally heard of his discharge — mercifully dis- 
charged, as they say ; but the flat of mercy had pre\'tonsly goM 
forth from a higher Power ; the political convict merely reached 
his home In Dublin to die with loving eyes watching by his des& 
bed. On Sunday, the 19th May, his body was conveyed to his 
last prison-house, in Glasnevin Cemetery. May God have mercy 
on his Boul. May God forgive his murderers 1 May God give 
peace and patience for those who are bound to follow. Pardon 
this digression, my lords; it was wrung from me — I conld not 
•void H. 

E'lCtuming to the question why sentence should not be pro- 
nounced upon me, I would ask your lordships' attention to a fiict, 
showing how, even in the estimate of the Crown, the case is Oof 
one for sentence. On the morning of my trial, and before true 
terms were offered to me by the Crown, the direct proposition was 
conveyed to me by my learned friend and Solicitor, Mr. Lawles^ 
by the learned counsel, Mr. O'Loghlen, who so ably defended me, 
and by Mr. Price, the €k)vemor of Kilmainham prison — by all 
three separately, that if I consented to plead guilty to the indict- 
ment, I should get off' with six months' imprisonment. Knowing 
the pliancy of Dublin juries in political cases, the offer was, doubt- 
less, a tempting one — valuing liberty, it was almost resistless in 
view of possible penal servitude — but having regard to principle, I 
spumed the compromise. I then gave unhesitatingly, as I would 
BOW give, the answer thAt not for a reduction of the penalty to six 



8TEFHEN JOSEPH KEAST. 



251 



honrs would I Burrender faith — that I need never look, ahd conld 
never look wife or children, friends or family, in the face again 
with a consciousness of manhood, if capable of such selfish cow- 
ardice. I conld not, to save myself^ imperil the safety of others. 
I could not plead guilty to an indictment, in the overt acts of 
• which six others were deliberately charged by name as ccM^nspi- 
rators with me — one of these since tried, convicted, and sentenced 
to deuth — I could not consent to obtain my freedom at the risk of 
theirs, and become, even though innocently and indirectly, worthy 
of rank with that brazen battalion of venal vagabonds who h»Te 
made the Holy Gospels of God the medium of barter for that 
nnholy gain ; obtaining access to the inmost heart of Uieir selected 
victims, only to coin its throbbings into the traitor's gold Mid traf- 
fic on its very life-blood. I stand at this bar a declared citizeli of 
the United States, and I protest against the right to pass anyaea- 
tence in any British court for acts done, or words spoken, dr al- 
leged to be done or spoken on American soil, within the shadow 
of the American flag, and under the sanction of American institS' 
tions. I protest against the assumption that would in this ootmlzy 
bind the right of thought, or control the liberty of speech in s& 
assemblage of American citizens in an American city. The United 
States will, doubtless, respect and protect her neutrality laws, and . 
observe "the comity of nations," whatever they mean in practice 
— but I repeat, I protest against the monstrous fiction — ^the trans- 
parent fraud — that would seek in ninety years after the evacoatiaB 
of New York by the British, to bring the people of New York 
within the vision and venue of a British jury in a Britishjaw court. 
I protest against the " supposition " that, in ninety years after the 
last British bayonet had glistened in an American sunlight — after 
the last keel of the last of the English fleet ploughed its last far- 
row in the waters of the Hudson or the Delaware, would restore 
that city of New York, its people, and institutions to the domini- 
ons of the Crown and Government of Great Britain. That is the 
meaning of this case. And so, disguise it as the Crown may, will 
it be interpreted in America. Not that the people in America 
would care one jot that Stephen Joseph Meany were hanged, 
drawn, and quartered to-morrow ; bat there is a great principle 



252 



FENIAM HEEOEfi AND MAKITES. 



Involved. Personally I am of no consequence in the an"air--po- 
liticiilly, I represout in lliis court tlic Irish adopted cilizcna of 
Amoica— for if, as the N<^w York llnrald, writing on the sub- 
ject, has ohscrved, the acts done in my regard are held to be justl- 
Cable, there is nothing to prevent the exlenflion of the same justice 
to any oDier adopted citizen vii/iting Great Britain. It is, there- 
fore, in the injuKtice of the case the influence lies, and not in Oie 
importance of the individual. Law is called " the perfection of 
reason." h there not, really, danger of its being regarded as the 
very climax of aljsurdity, if fictions of this kind can be turned into 
realities on the mere caprice of power ? iVs a distrnguished Eng- 
lish jrmrnalist, in reference to the case, has suggested—" Though 
the law may, doubllepa, be satisfied by the majority in «ic Court 
of Appeal, yet common sense and cfjmmon law would be w idcly 
antagonistic if Bcntence were to follow a judgment bo obtained." 
On ^1 grounds, then, I submit this is not a case ."or sentence. 
Waiving for the puipfjse the international objection, if I may M 
terra it, I appeal to British Justice itself on the matter. The pn>- _ 
fessed policy of that justice has ever been to give the benefit of 
doubts to the accused. Judges, in their charges to juries, have 
uniformly theorized on the principle ; and surely judges themselves 
■will not refuse w give practical elTort to the theory. My lords, I 
have now d.)ne, with this exception, there is ond more observation 
•with reference to myself which, witli your lordships' permission, I 
^vill r. serve until my sentence is pronounced. It is one simply 
putting forward a matter of Cict, with a desire of placing myself 
right before my country. 

Judge O'Hagan intimated to the prisoner that 
•whatever ohscrvations he had to offer, should be made 
before the sentence of the court was pronounced. 

Mr. Meany said there hud been much poetic fiction 
circulated concerning him. Before his trial by jury, 
he undcnvent a trial by journal ; hut there was one 
fact to which he should especially refer — ^he alluded 






BTEPHEN JOSEPH MEABT. 



253 



to the language of the Attorney-General, when he 
said tliat he (the prisoner) was one of the hor,t of plun- 
derers that were living on the money of the Fenian 
Brotlierhood, and other petty charges of that kind. 
In tliat court he should protest, and before a higher 
and more just tribunal, that never, directly or indi-' 
rectly, was he the recipient of one penny profit or 
emolument, in any shape whatever, from the Fenian 
Brotherhood, or any other political organization, nor 
was he ever a paid or salaried officer of the Brother- 
hood, lie came to this country on private and family 
businesB, and that the Crown could not prove that he 
had since November, 1860, by word, act, or writing, 
taken part in any ju-octicdingB that had taken place in 
the country. lie was now done, and was ready to 
receive the sentence of the court 

Mr. Meany was listened to with the utmost atten- 
tion by everyone present in court, and after a short 
address, of a somewhat complimentary nature, from 
the judge, Mr. Meany received the sentence of Fifteen 
Years' Penal Servitude. 



8iiriiir)>iiiiii#iffiiiii?ilfTi- ... 



254 TESUS HEBOBS AND KABJTSS. 



CAPTAm P. J. CONDON. 

Tonth nnd Khool days— EmigtateB to America— Enters the anny— lo the IiUh 
Brigndc— Goes to Ireland — Arrested — Correspondence with IT. 8. Connl— 
Uueraccd— Qoes a second time to Ireland— Arreuted again— Tried— Acquitted. 

Paitjick Joseph Condon, one of the most efficient 
officers of tlae Brotherhood, and who was lucky enough 
to escape the clutches of the British Government, was 
bom at Craves, near Cahermoyle, County of Limeridc, 
on the 16th February, 1831. The Condons had con- 
siderable possessions in the locality; and the father 
of our hero, having received a portion of the paternal 
estate, cultivated it untU the Summer of 1839, when 
he sold it, intending to emigrate to Australia. An ac- 
cident to his wife altered the intention of the family, 
which removed to an adjacent town, where the father 
extensively entered into the business of a builder, to 
which, conjointly with farming, he had been bred. 
After attending the best English schools of tlie neigh- 
borhood, young Patrick Joseph was sent, at the age 
of twelve, to a Greek and Latin school at Shanagol- 
den, fi-om which he was transferred, in 1845, to the 
Classical Institute of Kilmallock, where he remained 
until the '48, when he hastened, though but seventeen 
years old, to join the Tipperary insurgents. Al^nt 



OAPTAW p. J. Opl^DOK. 



255 



this time he learned that his father destined him for 
the priesthood, an elder brother having been already for 
some years in holy orders. Not agreeing with the 
family views regarding his future, young Condon 
passed a creditable examination for the Dublin Medi-. 
cal Hall, in 1849 ; but owing to pecuniary circum- 
stances, he was unable to prosecute his ambition in the 
medical profession, and consequently adopted his fa- 
ther's business. He emigrated to America in 1852. 

When the civil war broke out, Mr. Condon's de- 
votion to the integrity of republican liberty inspire4 - 
him to enter the army. He joined the Emmet Guard, 
a company of the 2d N. Y. S. M., then commanded 
by an old and valued friend. Captain John Keimedy, 
His attainments soon asserted themselves, and he was 
nominated for a lieutenancy before he had served two 
months ; but, having carried a hostUe message, he was 
detailed on recruiting service to New York. He sub- 
sequently raised a company for the 63d Regiment, N. 
Y. v., which joined Meagher's Irish Brigade and 
greatly distinguished itself throughout some of the 
most brilliant and bloody scenes of the war. Witlj 
this command, Captain Condon was most honorably 
distinguished, never having missed a march or a 
battle in which the Brigade took part from its forma- 
tion to the consolidation of its regimental remnants. 
He received a bullet wound in the thigh at Antietam, 
commanded his regiment at the battle of Fredericks- 
burg, and was placed in command of an important 
post, Banks' Ford, at the battle of ChanceUorsviUe, 
which he held with seven officers and one hundred and 



256 



FENXiH HEK0E3 AOT) MAETYES. 



fifty men for five days and nights, wliile tliG figliting 
i-arjed furiously all around liim. He was finally com- 
pelled to swim the river, in the middle of which he 
lost his horse from under him. On St. Patrick's eve, 
1SG3, Captain Condon M'as presented with a sword ot 
honor by citizens of New York, in appreciation of hia 
gallant services in the field- 
After the consolidation of the Brigade, Captain 
Condon received a confidential position in the United 
States Engineer Department as inspector and shipper 
of materials for fortifications, and was giving tlie full- 
est satisfaction, whtn he received an order, in the Sum- 
mer of 1865, to proceed to Ireland to take a command 
in the anticijjated uprising. Captain Condon had 
joined the F. B. so^'^n after his fii-st landing in Ameri- 
ca, and, as became an earnest and zealous member, he 
at once obeyed the order of his superior officer in the 
organization. He accordingly resigned his situation 
in tlicU. S. service, and even sold property to go. He 
left New York for Ireland in September, 1865, and 
was arrested at Harold's Cross, a suburb of Dublin, 
on the 23d February, 1866, on suspicion, under the 
suspension of the Habeas Corpus act. From an ad- 
dress made to the President of the United States — 
inclosing a correspondence with, and complaining o^ 
Mr. "West, tlie United States Consul at Dublin — a nar- 
rative of Captain Condon's imprisonment may be 
found in his own words. "Writing from Kilmainham 
jail, March 9, to the Consul, he says: 



CAPTAIN p. J. CSONDOH. 



257 



" T am a citizen of the United States of America, and have my 
residence in New York city. I was arrested in my lodgings at 
Harold's Cross, Dublin, on tlie morning of the 23d ult., by Acting 
Inspector Clifford and a squad of the detective force. 1 1788 con- 
veyed to Chancery lane station, where, in company with two oth- 
ers, I was confined for fom- days and three nights in a filthy, loath- 
some ceU or privy, without any sleeping accommodatiohs. "Were 
it not for the humane attentions extended towards ns by the poUce 
of that station, belonging to A division— attentions shown to ns at 
the risk of dismissal— I feel impressed with the belief that we 
should have perished. I was conveyed to this prison on the night 
of the 26th nit., where I am still confined. No cause so far has" 
been assigned for my arrest A duplicate of my citizenship paper 
was taken and is still detained from rue, togethefwith other prop- 
erty of mine. I claim from the American Consul here the protec- 
tion of my government. " 



Under date of April 21, Mr. "West informs the pri- 
soner he has drawn the attention of the Lord Lieute- 
nant to his case ; and on the 28th, further says, the Vice- 
roy is unfavorable to his recognition as a citizen of the 
United States. On the 30th, Condon writes he will 
abide the issue, believing that his Government will 
take a bold and dignified stand. He says any condi- 
tions of release short of allowing him to be a free 
agent wiU be useless. By waste of time and eva«jon 
the Consul kept Captain Condon nearly five moTithB in 
•prison. On the 4th July, as if in mockery of the 
American freedom indicated by the date, he writes to 
say that the Lord Lieutenant ^vill order his liberation 
"on condition that you return direct to the United 
States." Captain Condon replied: 



258 



FENIAS HKEOEB AMD MAKTTBa. 



MouNTJOT Prison, Jnly 10, 18C0. 
Mr. William B. West, United States Consul : ■ 

Sih-Oq the 4th inst. the Governor of this piison read for me 
my conditional discharge, which was in substance as foUows:— 
That I should go from here to Queenstown under police escort, 
and there take passage in a packet ship for the United States di- 
rect, and not return to Ireland within a reasonable time. I imme- 
diately refused to accept of my release on tliose conditions, and 
infonned the Governor that I hal business of considerable im- 
portance to myself to airange in this coantry and in Scotland before 
leavin- Europe, and also that I wished to go under medical treat- 
ment for a short time, as my health was much impaired by con- 
finement. Your letter of the 4th reached me on the oth insU, 
which left me no other alternative than to recall my.non-ftCceptance 
of release by acceptance of the conditions offered. Now, sir, I 
wish to be informed by you if those conditions are accepte J of for 
me by the United States Government? If they are, I shall con- 
clude that grave and pressing reasons have urged upon it the 
humiliating necessity of consenUng to have its citizens (who are 
neither charged nor convicted of any crime) marched like common 
malefactors through the thoroughfares of a foreign country, to its 
very confines, and thence banished. I say if such necessity exists, 
I bow my head to the stroke, but if not, I shall sooner find a grave 
here, which I am very likely to do if I am kept much longer In 
confinement, as my health is bad, than accept of terms which 
would lessen me even in my own estimation. I respectfully de- 
mand that you send Uiis letter, or a copy of it, to our Minister at 
London, the reply to which I wiU anxiously look for. I prefer 
adopting this com-se of sending to him through you than wntmg 
to himself dhect Very respectfully yours." 

The Consul writes on the 12th July that « the terms 
of your release, that you should be escorted to the ship 
by police, which I learned for the first time from your 
letter, are accepted for you by the TJnitedStates Gov- 
ernment," and two days after informs him that Mr. 
Adams approves of the same. 



DAPTAm p, J. comxat. 



259 



' ' I was Informed, " says Captain Condon, " by the British anthorl- 
ties that I would get ten days to leave Ireland for the United Statet 
direct, if I would petition for it, which I declined doing, and ac- 
cepted of the police escort in preference, leaving per steamship 
City of New York on the 19th of July last 

"All the United States citizens confined with me were subjected 
to the grossest indignities while in prison ; and on the last anniver- 
sary of our national independence, when I proposed celebrating that 
ever-to-be-remembered day by a cheer, loud, long and heartily re- 
sponded to, not alone by every United States citizen, "but by evciy 
Irishman within hearing, the severest sentence was passed on my- 
self and others for a breach, as it were, of prison discipline — one 
mouth in solitaiy confinement, and three days on bread and water. 
I felt the effects of this sentence telling so fearfully on my already 
shattered constitution, that I left the prison on the conditions ac- 
cepted for me by the ConsuL" 



Having remained some months in America, during 
which he made a tour of organization with Colonel T. 
F. Bourke, Captain Condon returned to Europe about 
the middle of December, 1866. After traveling in 
England and Scotland, he arrived in Ireland in the 
beginning of February, 1867, and was again arrested 
in Cork, 2d March — through the instrumentality of 
Corydon, who knew him well, having been a private 
in his company and transferred from it, for cowardice, 
to hospital duty. True bills were found against Cap- 
tain Condon on the 21st May. He was arraigned for 
high treason on the 22d ; tried on the 29th and 30th 
at the Cork Special Commission ; and mirahile dictu, 
acquitted. By a strange chain of circumstances, Cap- 
tain Condon is connected with several of the moat 
noted actors in the late movement. He is married to 



260 



TEKlAi? DEEOES ANl) MABTTES. 



a sister of Captain John McClure ; his family and that 
of Peter O'Neill Crowley have been connected for 
over a quarter of a century ; one of the informers 
served under him, and the other was known by Mb 
name. This last circumstance gave the subject of our 
sketch intense pain; and he cried with joy in the 
presence of his lawyer, and a fellow prisoner, O'Mahony, 
■when he learned that Massey, the informer, had no 
title to the name of Condon. 

Captain Condon's services and adventures in the 
Fenian cause for the past two years would make a 
volume of exciting romance. f 



CEOWLKY, KELLY ASD it'cLCEB." 



261 



PETEE O'NEILL CROWLEY, JOHN EDWARD 
KELLY. CAPTAItf JOHN McCLURE. 

Three Fenians ^ve Battle to the Waterford Column and Police— Sketch ofPeter 
O'Neill Crowley— Martyrdom of hia tincle, Father O'NeDl— The Martyr's 
Heir— His High Character— Sketch of John Edward Kelly— Goes to School to 
Halifax— Emigrates to Boeton— Becnmes a Printer— Joine the Fenlane In 
New York— Passion for Military Knowledge— Instmcta the Emmet Gnards In 
Boston— Goes to Ireland— Military Instructor In Cork— Views on Irish Renv 
lotion- Duties as Agent of the L R. B.— Plans at the Time of the Rising— 
Sketch of John McClure — Native of New York— Joine the 11th N. Y V C«t» 
«1"7— Sen-Ice— Mustered "nt— Goes to Ireland— Attacks Knockadoon Station 
—Crowley, Kelly and McClure in the Mountains— Fight In Klldoony Wood* 
—Capture of McClure and Kelly— Death of Crowley— His Funeral- PopiiJ«r 
Sympathy -McClure and Kelly In the Dock— Manly Speeches— Senteace. 

Where there have been so many individual instan- 
ces of gallantry as the personal adventures of the* Fe- 
nians exhibit, it^is difficult to assign the palm of par- 
ticular distinction to any one ; but it will doubtless be 
conceded that the fight at KOclooney Wood, between 
three Fenians and the British forces, was the most gal- 
lant and remarkable conflict of the rising. Indeed it 
is well calculated to add a special glory to the canse 
associated with it, and to indicate a lasting reputation 
for those engaged in it. That three Fenians should de- 
fiantly resist and ofiFer battle to one hundred and 
twenty soldiers, besides the district constabulary, bor- 
ders almost on the marvelous. But men, inspired m 



262 



FENIAS HEROES AND MABTTE8, 



tliey were, are capable of any sacrifice — even life itseUl 
The names of these self-sacrificing, daring men, are 
Peter O'Neill Crowley, John Edward Kelly and John 
McClure ; and their example and record may be hand- 
ed down to the admiration of those who honor noble 
deeds and will strive to emulate them. 

Peter O'Neill Crowley was born on the 23d May, 
1832, at Ballymacoda, in the county of Cork. HisfiEi- 
ther was a respectable farmer, living in the locality, 
and his mother was the niece of Father Peter O'Neill, 
who, flogged in the City of Cork in the year 508, was 
afterwards sentenced to transportation for life for his 
alleged complicity in the rebellion of that year. While 
yet young, Peter Crowley's father died, and his grand- 
uncle, the priest, who had been liberated from jail af- 
ter five years' incarceration, took the boy under his 
care, and at the time of his death directed that due at- 
tention should be paid to educate him in all the mod- 
ern iranches of education. 

As the wrongs, suffered by Father O'Neill were 
treasured by the family — becoming an inspiration to 
patriotism — and as they receive an additional interest 
from the blood poured out by young Crowley to 
avenge them, a brief account of them, found in "A 
Critical and Historical Review of Fox's Book of Mar- 
tyrs, by William Eusebius Andrews," will prove of 
sad interest. Most of the narrative is extracted from 
Father O'Neill's own " Remonstrance," dated October 
23, 1803. The extract will speak for itself ; we shall 
only premise that it was written in reply to a laio-lord 
who had spoken of Father O'Neill as " one proved to 



CEOWLET, KELLY AND m'oLTIEB. 



263 



have been guilty of sanctioning the murders of 1798, 
transported to Botany Bay, and since pardoned by the 
mercy of Government." After denying in the most 
solemn manner that he was guilty of the offence 
charged against him at his arrest, in 1799, he thufl 
proceeds : 



"It was my peculiar misfortune that the charges then made 
against me were not only withheld from myself, but even my 
friends had no intimation of them, except by common report, 
which then was busily employed m disseminating the varioua 
atrocities supposed to have been committed by me ; but nothing 
specifically authenticated had transpired ; the very committal was 
BO vague as to have excited the astonishment of a professional 
friend of mine in Dublin, and to "have eventually led to my dis- 
charge. I shall now proceed to the particulars of my case: 
Immediately upon my arrest, I was brought into Tonghal, where, 
without any previous trial, I was confined in a loathsome recepta- 
cle of the barrack, called the black ^oZe— rendered still more 
ofieusive by the stench of the common necessary adjoining it 

"In that dungeon I remained from Friday until Monday, ■ft'hen 
I was conducted to the BaU-alley to receive my punishment. No 
trial had yet intervened, nor ever after. I was stripped and tied 
up ; six soldiers stood forth for this operation ; some of them 
right-handed, some of them left-handed men, two at a time (as I 
judge from the quickness of the lashes), and relieved at interpala, 
nntU I had received Iwo hundred and seventy-five fashes, so 
vigorously and so deeply mJiicted that my back and points of my 

shoulders were quite bared to the flesh. But I had 

not- hitherto shaken the triangle; a display of feelin'g which, it 
seems, was eagerly expected from me. To accelerate that spec- 
tacle a wire cat was introduced, armed with straps of tin or lead. 
.... Whatever were its appendages, I cannot easfly for- 
get the power of it. In defiance of shame my waistband was cut 
for the finishing strokes of this lacerating instrument The veiy 



1 n tttiitiia^i^^^ 



264 



FENIAN HEROES AOTJ MAETTE8. 



first lash, as it renewed all my pangs, and shot convulsive agony 
through my entire frame, made me shake the triangle indeed. A 
second infliction of it penetrated my loins, and tore them excra- 
ciatingly; the third maintained the tremulous exhibition long 
enough — ^the spectators were satisfied." 

After detailing tlie several means to •wliich the offi- 
cers — commissioned and non-commissioned — ^had re- 
course, in order to force from him a confession of 
guilt, Father O'Neill proceeds : 

" After I had answered him (one of the officers) in the comer of 
the ball-alley that I would suffer any death rather than acknow- 
ledge a crime whereof I was not guilty, he told me that I should 
be set at liberty if I would agree to a certain proposal which he 
then made ; but justice and truth commanded me to reject it. 
When conducted to jail, after a lapse of three hours, I was pre- 
sented with a refreshment. It appeared to be wine and water, but 
must have had some other powerful ingredient, for it speedily 
brought on a stupor. The same officer soon roused me from my 
lethargy, with a renewed effort to extort this avowal from me ; he 
drew his sword ; he declared he would never depart from me until 
it was given in writing ; he threatened that I should forthwith be 
led out again, flogged as before, shot, hanged, my head cut off to 
be exposed on the jaU-top, and my body thrown into the river ; 
that he would allow me but two minutes to determine. Then, 
going to the door, he called for a scrip of paper, while the sentinel 
swore terribly at the same time that he would blow my brains out 
if I persisted any longer in my refusal. Under this impression I 
scribbled a note to my brother, which they instantly cried out was 
what they wanted ; the precise expressions of it I do not at this 
moment recollect ; it purported a wish that my brother might no 
longer indulge uneasiness on my account, for I deserved what I got. 
The officer withdrew ; my sister-in-law then got admittance : she 
told me she had just heard' the sentinel say that during my entire 
punishment, nothing was against me ; however, that the paper I 



CEOWLET, KELLT AND M'cLPEE. 



265 



bad just written would assuredly hang me. I exclaimed that their 
dreadful threats had compeUed me to write it, which exclamation 
beingcaniedbi the officer, he returned the next day; he called 
me to the jail window commanding a view of the gallows, whereon 
two men were hanging, their bodies so bloody that I imagined they 
were red-jackets. A third halter remained yet Onoccupred, which 
he declared was intended for me, should 1 persist in disclauning 
the aforesaid note. ' Look,' said he, ' at those men ; look at that 
rope ; your treatment shaU be worse than theirs if yon disown 
what you wrote yesterday ; ' adding that it was stiU in my power 
to get free. I imagined from this that he wanted money from me, 
or a favorite mare which I had occasionally lent Mm. My answer 
■tvas— ' If you liberate me, you shall always find me thankful, there 
isnothmgin my power that I will not da' 'Do not attempt, 
then,' said he, 'to exculpate yourself,' and then retired. I now 
procured paper whereon I wrote a formal protest against what ha 
had extorted from me as above ; that, should I be executed, this 
protest might appear after my death." 

After this martjrour hero had been named, and the 
granduncle was very much attached to his nephew. 
On Father O'Neill's death, young Peter inherited^ 
under his- will, all that the priest was worth in the ' 
world, including his residence. The management of 
the property was assumed by Peter Crowley's eldest 
sister, who, some years his senior, endeavored to carry 
out faithfully the bequest of the deceased clergyman 
Time rolled on, and Peter attaining his majori^j 
worked with great energy on the farm which had been 
left to him, and, by industry and perseverance, soon 
converted it into a valuable property. He was always 
a man of exceedingly temperate habits, never having" 
dnmk a drop of spirituous liquor since he was ten 
years of age; and when his day of toU was ended he 
applied himself to study. 



266 



FENIAS HEE0E8 AlID MAETTEB. 



"Well versed ia the liistory of Lis coimtry, and deep- 
ly impressed by the dreadful punishment to which his 
grandimcle had been subjected, he was imbued Arith 
feelings of the dee^pest hgstility towards the English 
Government. Peter Crowley's grandfather was like- 
wise mixed up in the movement of '98, and for two 
years he was a proclaimed outlaw ; in short, he was 
descended from rebels. It was natural for him to be 
national; and, joining the Fenian Brotherhood — of 
which he was a member for several years — ^he threw 
himself heart and soul into 'the movement, fostering 
its designs and extending its ramifications, i His na- 
ture was high-toned and loveable. He was most .wor- 
thy and excellent in his family relations — the best of 
brothers ; and, rather than cause those with whom he 
lived any uneasiness, -he was accustomed to steal, out 
at night, unobserved, with a view to forwarding the 
cause which was so dear to his heart, returning in the 
morning to his work, apparently unfaligued by the 
loss of his night's rest. The blood of the martyrs 
was in him, and gave him strength. 



The 'second of this trio of heroes, John Edward 
Kelly, was born in Kinsale, County Cork, on the 6th 
July, 1840. His parents emigrated to Halifax when 
the child was but two years old. He went to school 
there, and when yoimg, displayed a talent for drawing, 
for proficiency in which he received a premium. 
"When about fourteen years of age he removed to Bos- • 
ton, where he served an apprenticeship to the printing* 



CEOWLEY, KELLY AJJD M'cLtTEa 



267 



business, at the expiration of which he came to Kew 
York, where he joined the Fenian Brotherhoo'd, in the 
Spring of 1860. Being an enthusiast with practical 
ideas, he attached himself to the military department 
of the organization. He was one of the original mem- 
. bers of the " Phoenix Zouaves "—a Company which, 
at that time, numbei-ed among its members several 
young men who afterwards distinguished themselves 
on many a hard-fought field in the service of the Re- 
public—chief among them being Colonels J. P. and 
Denis J. Downing, Captains John D. Heame, "William 
O'Shea, and Francis "Welply. The two last-named 
heroes died on the battle-fields of Spottsylvania and 
Ream's Station ; and all the others Were, more than 
once^ severely wounded while attesting their devotion 
to the cause of human freedom. 

Under the tutelage of Captain Thomas Kiely— a 
splendid military instructor of the United States 
Army, and a" whole-souled Irish patriot— Kelly soon 
became a proficient in the use of the rifle and bayo. 
net. He w.as indefatigable in acquiring miKtary 
knowledge— both theoretically and practically— and 
he was seldom without " Hardee's Tactics " in his 
pocket. In the winter of 1860, he went to Boston, 
and became instructor of the Emmet Guard, t^ch 
was organized by the Brotherhood soon after his ar- 
rival. So highly were his services appreciated, tlf&t, 
on his expressing his desire to go to Ireland for tho 
I'uqxise of aiding his compatriots there in making 
preparations for the work before tliem, his friends in 
Boston insisted on defraying his expenses homa 



i- 



. ^-m.ii>-^,.^ .a,^i.i:i»,,^. 



268 



FENIAH HEEOES AJvD MAJtTTEa. 



After remaining a few days ■with his old comrades in 
New Tork, he sailed for Ireland in the month of April, 
1861. Since that time, up to the outbreak in March, 
1867, he resided principally in Cork, where his ser- 
vices, in imparting military instruction to the young 
patriots of that city and its vicinity, under harrassing 
difficulties,. will be long fondly remembered. 

Mr. Kelly opposed the proposition for the Emmet 
Guard to volunteer into the American service, believ- 
ing they would be wanting immediately in Ireland. 
But when in Ireland, and seeing the tendency of evQpts, 
he was a most earnest advocate of the Union cause. 
Kelly, it appears, never had much faith in aid fi;om 
America, always contending that the men in Ireland 
were able to work out their own freedom ; and it was 
only, says his most intimate associate, " after the 5th 
March, 1867, when he saw all the branches broken for 
want of a common trunk or centre to raUy upon, that 
he admitted that an expedition from America was ne- 
cessary for success." After his arrival in Dubhn, he 
put himself in, commimion with the authorities of the 
I. R. B., and went to Cork, where he obtained work 
and made friends, even with Orangemen, who were 
employed in the same establishment. He subsequent- 
ly went to London, but, disgusted with England and 
the Enghsh, returned to Dublin, and obtained employ- 
ment on the Irish People when that journal was start- 
ed. Here his talents were observed, and he was sent 
to Cork as an agent of the organization. He soon 
raised a company, and was commissioned a " B." 
During this period, his means were often at alow ebb, 



CEOWLET, KELLT AOT) m'cLTIEE, 269 

but he found welcome and a home in the family of Mr. 
and Mrs. John Buckley, devoted Fenians, now resi- 
dents of Maiden, Massachusetts. He was fond of al- 
luding to the tact that, while suffering from a severe 
fever, he, a Protestant, experienced the greatest care 
from the good Sisters of Mercy and priests in Cork. 

Mr. Kelly's duties now took hhn constantly from 
Cork to Dublin, and he escaped arrest, on the seizure 
of the Irish People, by having been just ordered to the 
former. The latter part of 1865 found him stiU or- 
ganizing in Cork, and encouraging the people, whUe 
the appalling scenes of the first Special Commission 
were being enacted around him. He always worked 
with such systematized caution, that he could venture 
on bolder undertakings than even those- who were less 
known. At this time Thomas B. Hennessy, and a 
few of the Boston men, arrived, to participate in the 
expected struggle. Kelly took them around the city 
showing them the fortifications and strategetical 
pomts. It was about this same time that, as Mr. Hen- 
nessy writes, " a batch of Western officers left Cork 
recalled by Mr. Scanlan. Their defection caused the' 
utmost depression in Cork; and Kelly took his Boston 
friends to the meetings of the Brotherhood, and, intro- 
ducing them to the different officers, assured them 
that numbers of others were on their way over. This 
action contributed, in a great measure, to re^assura 
the Centres, who were beginning to get disheartened 
when they saw the men on whom they depended for 
leaders deserting them." 
After undergoing many privations in Dublin and 



^fgatatisiSlMm 



270 



FKNIAN HEE0E8 AND MAET7E8. 



Liverpool in 1866, we find Kelly, in the Fall of that 
year, engaged as a printer on the Cork Herald, Bfill 
keeping np tlie discipline of his men, althongh he had 
misgivings as to any movement taking place. Among 
the nationalists of Cork " Kelly's Men " were known 
as the avant-garde — all " dare devils like himself" He 
was only dissuaded from going to aid the Kerry rising, 
in February, by being reminded that he had " no or- 
ders ;" but he made his mind np to make a certain 
movement to rally the people, if the leaders gave no 
eign of action. 

On the Saturday before the rising, he calTfed on 
Crowley, who was in the city, and, taking a walk with 
him and Hennessy, unfolded his plans to them. Crow- 
ley thought them rash ; but Kelly's eloquence finally 
won XDrowley's consent, who agreed to take part in 
tliem if something else did not occur. That " some- 
thing " was the rising of the 5th. Crowley, grasping 
Hennessy's hand, said : " Mr. Hennessy, when we 
meet again it will be on the battle-field I " Hennessy 
promised to join Kelly's plans, but he was assigned to 
other .duties,. with the Cork forces, by Massey, He 
never saw Crowley again. 

The youngest of the Kilcloony heroes is John Mo- 
Clure, who was born 17th July, 1846, at Dobbs Ferry, 
"Westchester County, State of New York. His parents 
were both Irish, his father, David McClure, being a 
native of Tipperary, and his mother, who was of the 
O'Donnell sept, liailing from Limerick County. They 
had emigrated to this country several years before, and 
were in respectable circumstances when John was 



OEOWIBT, KELLY AUD m'0LTJE&. 



271 



born. He was their fifth child, and growing np amid 
the simple scenes of country life, imbibed its virtues, 
and surrounded by the magnificence of Nature, ao- • 
quired its innate nobility. When able to learn, he 
was sent to the " district" school of the place, from 
which he derived a plain English education. He con- 
tinued at school until about sixteen years of age, when 
he came to New-Tork City, and, under the guidance 
and advice of his elder brother, William James, he 
obtained a very desirable clerkship, in which occnpa- 
tion he gave satisfaction to his employers. At this 
time the American civil war was at its height, and 
the idiosyncrasies of the lad began to exhibit them- ^ . 
selves. On the morning of December 5th, 1863, he 
was missing from his post ; nothing was known of hifl 
whereabouts until a note from him, of the 10th inst., 
stated that he was bound for Washington, having en- 
listed as private in the 11th N. "1. V. Cavahy, 
(" Scott's 900.") The efi"orts of his family to have 
him return home were unavailing, and EO he entered 
thp theatre of war. 

After some months of duty at Washington,, part- ol 
the time being employed as clerk in the Court Maftial 
Rooms there, he embarked with his regiment on board 
a transport ship for New Orleans, where they were 
quartered, making occasional incursions into the^ Con- 
federate country, and checking the guerillas, vdio were 
rampant. Eventually his regiment was removed up 
the Mississippi river, and many were the raids made 
by John and his comrades for supplies; and many 
hard rides and skirmishes he experienced through Mia- 



•"^'^'^^'■--"■■^■■^•-^iiiii'iiiiiinrliliii^^ 






272 



FENIAH HEKOES AOT) MAETTBa, 



eissippi, Arkansas and Tennessee — now foraging, now 
overawing the guerillas. It was a wild and merry life, 
with hut little of bitterness in it ; and it is a fact that 
young McClure was never engaged in any of the 
pitched battles of the war. He was appointed quar- 
termaster sergeant of his company, (" L ") and sub- 
sequently quartermaster sergeant of Company " B " 
The war ended, and the troops marched home. John's 
regiment was mustered out at Memphis, Tenn., and 
dischai^ed at Albany, N. Y. On a bright day, early 
in October, he walked into his brother's plac§ of busi- 
ness much the same kindly lad as he was twenty-two 
months before, having doifed his militaiy gear at Al- 
bany, and purchased a civilian's dress, " more service- 
able than elegant." " Again he took up the pen, and 
labored very constantly for over a year. 

The strength of the Fenian organization had been 
great, its hopes high, its disasters many, and in tho 
Winter of '66-7 it arrived at the most ominous period 
of its vicissitudes. Young McClure never by act or 
word expressed any special predilection for the move- 
ment, and it was not until two days before his depar- 
ture for the British Isles, that his family knew of his 
determination to cast himself into the breach, and 
make one of the forlorn hope of Irish patriotism. 
There is no doubt but that he was influenced to this 
course by association with some of the Fenian leaders, 
who met together occasionally at the house where he 
resided. Their anticipations were bright as their de- 
signs were daring, and awoke the youth's susceptible 
Bpirit of adventure. On the 18th day of December, 



CEOWLET, KELLY AUD u'cLXmB. 



273 



1866, he set sail, with his older and more experienced 
Fenian companions, for the scene of Irish insun-ection. 
They arrived at Glasgow, Scotland, early in January, • 
and scattered to different parts. McClure went from 
Glasgow to Liverpool, and thence to Cork, from which 
latter city he wrote to his brother in Hew York avh- 
■rosa, about the middle of February, that, notwithstand- 
ing the failure of the F. B. in America in arming their ■ 
brothers at home, thei/ were resolved to precipitate the 
death-struggle for independence with the scanty wea- 
pons at hand. He was appointed to command the 
Middleton District, in Cork County. ■ 

Such were the antecedents of the three gallant spirits, 
whose lives had become so honorably united in a com- 
mon purpose. 

On the night of the 5th March, Shrove Tuesday, a 
large ~body of men, armed with rifles, guns, revolvers, 
pikes and scythes, assembled at a given point, and ar- 
rayed in military order, they proceeded — according to 
a preconcerted plan — to the Knockadoon coastguard 
station. Captain McClure was in command of this 
party, and made one of the most successful of the in- 
surgent attacks. .'' 

After sacking Knockadoon coastguard station, the 
party proceeded to Killeagh, and were to have joined 
the Middleton and Castlemartyr contingents.* By a 
mistake — which could only be accounted for by the 
loss of their leader, Timothy Daly, who was killed — 
the latter party did not ineet the former ; who, tired 
of waiting, proceeded direct to the Tipperary mountains. 
Ketuming from the Galtees, the Ballymacoda con- 



274 



FENIAN nKEOES ASD MAEITK8. 



tingent (wliicli tenaciously held together, notwith- 
standing Eonie defections, settled down in a remote 
part near Mitchelstown. Here in the defiles and 
gorges of the chain of mountains which extends beyond 
Fermoy, towards Mitchelstown, the insurgents passed 
their time. Some days before the fatal encounter, hav- 
ing been made aware that the Waterford flying column 
were on their trail, they changed their position, and 
separated into small knots, with a view of being 
better able to elude the vigilance of their pursuere. It 
is stated that Ci-owley was in Cork the Thursday prior 
to the alTray ; and that, disguised as a carman, he was 
enabled to avoid detection. We are also told that the 
men had ample means of escape to France or other 
places, but, indulging in the hope that aid would come 
sooner or later, they determined to the last to stand by 
the cause which they had embraced, and which they 
were confident would succeed. 

The exact circumstances under which Crowley was 
in the wood, may not be without interest. By pre- 
arrangement, a friend of his (who was in full possession 
of his whereabouts all through) was to have met him 
at Kilclooney "Wood on Sunday, March 31, or follow- 
ing day,- for the pui-pose of supplying him with some 
essentials. Scouts anxiously watched, lest their visitor 
sliould by possibility pass unseen. It is supposed that 
they were observed, and that information was in the 
meantime conveyed to the authorities. Acting on this 
or other information, the resident IMagistrate of Mitch- 
elstown — Mr. Keale Browne — collected the disti'ict 
constabulary, and sent a requisition for the assistance of 



CEOWLET, KELLY AND m'cLUBS. 



275 



the County "Waterford Column. This was composed 
of a troop of the Sixth Carbineers, two companies of 
the Sixth Warwickshire infantry, some of the military 
train, and Royal Engineers— in all about one hundred 
and twenty men — commanded by Major BelL Guided 
by Mr. Browne, Mr. Eedmond, resident Magistrate <rf 
Dungarvan, and Sub-Inspector Eudge, the troops 
reached the romantic valley of Aharfoucha at day- 
dawn on Sunday morning. Here the collision took 
place. Here Crowley, Kelly and McClure resisted 
the combined forces ; and the military are said to have 
been greatly impressed by their extraordinary pluck 
and determination. 

A stream flows through the valley of Aharfoucha, 
towards the banks of which Kilclooney Wood slopes 
down. Forty men, commanded by Major BeU, sur- 
rounded it on the south and west sides, in skirmishing 
order; the cavalry were posted higher up in the 
valley, while the constabulaiy took possession of the 
Western Mountain, and the carbineers sun-ounded the 
houses on the east. The skirmishers were directed to 
let no one escape from the wood. One of them, per- 
ceiving a figure moving among the trees, challenged ; 
a shot was the reply. The order was then given to 
advance into the wood, and a sharp fusilade conii 
menced. Finding their hiding-place thus invaded, 
two of the Fenians who had been concealed, made a 
rush for the river, fij-ing rapidly at the soldiers as 
they emerged from the trees. The military returned 
the fire with vigor. 

At this moment Mr. Redmond dashed through the 



276 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AND MAETYE8. 



military lines, under fire, in pursuit of the fugitives. 
He overtook Captain McClure as the latter reached 
the river, and grappled with him from behind. 
McClure tried to shoot Mr. Redmond over his shoul- 
der, but in doing so he left himself open to the soldiers^ 
who rushed up to bayonet him. Mr. Kedmond com- 
manded them to spare his life, and just succeeded in 
checking the direction of an outstretched rifle. They 
struggled for a short time in the water, but McClure 
was soon ovei-powered by numbers. His companion, 
Crowley, was more unfortunate ; as he was also jump-, 
ing into the river, some shots struck him and he fell 
mortally wounded. The soldiers plunged in after 
him, and drew him to the bank. 

It was found on examination that one of the shotij 
had struck the lock of his musket, breaking the third 
finger of his right hand, and then rebounded, making 
a large welt across his stomach. Another shot had 
entered the middle of his back, and passed out through 
the right axilla. He was laid on the ground, while 
the surgeon tried to stanch tlie blood by pressure. As 
he lay on the gi"ass, with his eyes devoutly raised to 
heaven, few (says one account) " could withhold an 
expression of admiration and sympathy from one who 
had, in many respects, the qualities of a hero." 

Kelly was observed by Ensign Meredith crouching 
behind a ditch, rifle in hand ; he was summoned to 
surrender, and, seeing the uselessness of further re- 
eistance, threw do^Ti his gun, which was afterwards 
recoo-nized as a coast-guard's weapon. He had a 
haversack containing a few pounds of raw pork, also 



CEOWLET, KELLT AOT) M'CLUEK. 



277 



Bome ammunition. In his pocket-book were several 
entries, headed as his "journalof the campaign;" and 
the last entry, when five were together, was made on 
the 7th of March. He had also a green silk flag, with 
white fringe, a green handkerchief, and map of the 
County Cork. 

An elevating interest centres on the martyr-hero, 
farmer Crowley. The priest was sent for, and the 
military surgeon. Dr. Sugrue, who stauhched hia 
wounds, read the last prayer from Crowley's own 
prayer book, which he always carried about him. The 
dying man was conscious to the last. When asked 
how he was, he replied, " I feel better now — j6u were 
about an hour too early ; if you were an hour later I 
would have given you a hot reception, and a very nice 
morning." "What he intended to convey by the re- 
mark may not be obvious ; but it was believed that the 
remainder of the party, who were not far ofi^, had ap- 
pointed to meet at Kilclooney Wood at six o'clock 
that morning. Had they been allowed an opportunity 
of concentrating in the plantation before the mCitary 
assembled, there can be little doubt that a fierce and 
desperate encounter would have ensued. He had been 
conveyed on a litter to the nearest farm-house, but the 
])eop]e not wishing him to die there, he had to be taken 
to Mitchelstown, where he received attention and spir- 
itual consolation. 

The last moments of the wounded insurgent were 
most impressive. For lialf an hour before he suc- 
cumbed, a clergyman was present, ministering to the 
dying man the consolations of religion ; and the rev- 



^jyiTWIMi'^^^ifaiit j; 



278 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AJID UABTTBS. 



erend gentleman, -vrnting to a friend, describes him in 
the following tenns : "His death was most edifying. 
Never did I attend one who made a greater impres- 
Bion upon me. He begged of me to tell his sister not 
to be troubled because of his death, which he hoped 
would be a happy one." The body of the deceased 
had been removed to the workhouse, and when it be- 
came known who it was, a large crowd collected out. 
side the gate of the union, and insisted upon getting 
the remains, in order that it might receive the last 
rites in proper form. When the sister of th% deceased 
arrived, she had some difficulty in obtaining admit- 
tance, owing to the commotion outside. Tlie martyr 
was laid out in his " habit " in the dead-house, and the 
loving sister immediately recognized her brother. Her 
request to see his clothes that he wore on the fatal 
morning was complied vdth. They were the disguise 
which he had worn in his expedition, and she did not 
identify them as his own. The police endeavored to 
detain them, but Miss Crowley insisted upon claiming 
them. Besides the scapulars which he wore, he had 
also attached round his neck a large bronze crucifix 
and a little medal, the emblems of a Christian " order." 
The crucifix was shattered in two places, and the 
medal was bent, plainly indicating they had been 
struck by bullets. On the chest of the deceased, 
where the religious tokens had been worn, there was 
an indentation in the skin corresponding with the size 
of the medal, as if it had violently pressed against 
that part of the breast. 
- An in«iuest was held the next day, and the' jury, af- 



CEOWLET, KELLT AND M'cXtrEB. 



279 



ter exhibiting some doubt, as to the right of rach a 
large body of men firing on three fugitives, ultimately 
returned a verdict of death from the effects of a gun- 
shot wound inflicted by the military while in the dis- 
charge of their duty. 

The funeral took place on Tuesday, the 2d April, 
and awakened the strongest feelings of sympathy. 
About one hundred women and children, each carry- 
ing branches of laurel, formed a procession four deep ; 
then followed a scattered group of female* iriends; 
next the hearse. The coffin was strewn with branches 
of laurel. The sister of the patriot walked after thp 
coffin as chief mourner, her head covered with a dark 
hood, and being supported by three priests. The love 
in which Crowley was held by his neighbors, and their 
sympathy for his hero-death, was exhibited by the 
closing of all the shops in the town. At Fermoy, 
during the interval that elapsed for resting the horses, 
the plumes and hearse were decorated with ribbons 
, and green boughs, and a representation of the Irish 
harp was placed on one of the panels of the hearse. 
For miles the coffin was borne on men's shoulderp ; 
and it was only when the " shades of evening^' had 
fallen, that the corpse was placed in th'e hearse. The 
following day the remains were removed from his late 
residence to the place of interment at Ballymacoda. 
In consequence of a request previously made by the 
relatives of the deceased, there was not a renewal of 
Tuesday's demonstration ; but the mournful procession 
which followed the corpse expressed their sorrow and 
regret for the deceased in another and more pathetic 



280 



FENIAN HEE0E9 AND UABTTEfl. 



form. Among the persons who attended the funeral 
a large body of stalwart, yet respectable young men, 
were present. After the burial requiem had been, 
chanted, and the prayers of the people offered for the 
Boul of the departed, all that was mortal of Peter 
Crowley was deposited in the earth, amid the sorrow 
and weeping of some, and deep expressions of ven- 
geance from others. 

Crowley's comrades, McClure and Kelly, were con- 
veyed to Cork Jail, and were arraigned at the Special 
Commission held in that city on Monday, 2J.st May, 
1867, by Chief Justice Monaghan, Justice Keogh, and 
Justice George. Their appearance in the dock is thus 
described : " The demeanor in court of Edward KeUy, 
as well as that of Captain McClure, was marked by 
an air of the most complete and unassumed indiffer- 
ence. TVTaen called on to plead, each i-ose from hia 
seat, and in a gentlemanly, firm manner, answered 
" not guilty." Kelly and McClure looked remarkably 
well, and appeared to enjoy the change of scene from 
the cell to the dock. No one, looking at them in a 
casual way, would suspect them of having taken a 
part in a most daring and memorable incident of the 
late insurrection. They are accused of teing two of 
the three men whose bravery, when surrounded by the 
soldiers and police in Kilclooney "Wood, called forth 
the admii-ation of the military. The third of that 
Li-ave trio — Peter Crowley — was shot dead whilst at- 
tempting to cross the river which outskirts the wood. 
Looking at the boyish face of Kelly, and the almost 
eq aally youthful and quiet countenance of McClure, 



CJEOWLET, KELLT AND M CLtTEB. 



281 



one could scarcely be convinced how they could have 
possessed so much pluck and endurance as they, ad- 
mittedly, displayed." 

On the third day of his trial, McClure was induced, 
after persistent pereuasions on the part of the U. S. 
Consul, Eastman, and his solicitor, to plead guilty, 
with the "distinct understanding that the United 
States Government would interpose for his release on 
giving security to leave the country." On the same 
day Kelly was found guilty. On the next day, Fri- 
day, 25th May, they were put forward and, the Clerk 
of the Crown having formally asked McClure if he 
had anything to say why sentence of death should not 
be passed upon him, the prisoner rose in the dock, arid 
resting his hands on the front of it, addressed the 
Court in a loud, calm, manly voice. He said: 



" My lords, in tmswer to the question as to wliy tlie sentence of 
tlie court should not now be passed upon me, I would desire to 
make a few remarks in relation to my late exertions on behalf of 
the suffering people of this country — in aiding them in their ear- 
nest endeavors to obtain the independence of their native land. 
Although not bom on the soil of Ireland, my parents were, and 
from history, and the traditions of the fireside, I became convers- 
ant with this country's miseries from my earliest childhood ; and 
as the human breast possesses those Godlike attributes which make 
men feel for suffering mankind, I felt for Ireland's wrongs, and for 
her moral degradation, and I felt that I should assist her people in 
their attempt to right those wrongs and raise her from degradation. 
I shall not now state to what cause I attribute the failure of the 
late insunectionaiy movement Nor shall I express a sorrow I do 
not feel with regard to my own conduct. I am fully satisfied of 
the righteousnefifl of my every act in connection with the late rero- 



282 



FENIAN HEROES AITO MAETTB8, 



lutionary Tnovement, having been actuated alone by a holy desire 
to assist in the emancipation of an enslaved but generous people. 
It affords me more pleasure to have acted as I have done in behalf 
of the Irish people, than any event that has occurred to me during 
my eventful, though youthful existence. I would wish it to be 
distinctly understood — and I say it here standing on the brink of 
an early grave — that I am no fillibuster or freebooter. I came to 
this country with no personal object to gain — ^with no desire to my 
ovm advancement, I came here solely out of love of Ireland and 
sympathy for her people. If I have forfeited my life in having 
done so, I am ready to abide the issue. If my devotion to an op- 
pressed people be a crime, I am wUling to receive the penilty of 
that crime, knowing, as I do, that what I have done was in b|balf 
of a people whose cause wts just and holy — a people who will ap- 
preciate and honor a man, although he may not be a covurtryman 
of their own, but still a man who is willing to suffer in defence of 
that divine American principle — the right of self-government. I 
would now wish to tender to my learned and eloquent counsel, Mr. 
Heron and Mr. Watei-s, and to my solicitor, Mr. Collins, my Bin- 
cere and heartfelt thanks for the able manner in which they have 
conducted my defence. And now, my lords, I trust I am prepared 
to submit to the penalty it will be now the duty of your lordshipa 
to pronounce upon me. I have no more to say." 

The prisoner then resumed his seat, his firm, though 
gentle manner, the mild restrained enthusiasm which 
marked those parts of his address which referred to 
his love of Ireland, making a ueep impression on his 
audience. 

Edward Kelly having been asked in like manner if 
he had anything to say why sentence of death should 
not be passed upon him, then rose and rested his hands 
on the front of the dock. He looked rather pale, but 
his paleness was evidently not cattsed by trepidation, 
but by the effort to collect his ideas. His keen, flash- 



CEOWLET, KELLT AND u'cLtTBE. 



283 



ing, southern eyes were fixed steadily on the jndfes as 
he spoke, except where he quoted from the Psahnist, 
and then they were raised upwards ; and for a while 
the prisoner appeared transported in thought to that 
world to which he was soon to be consigned. He 
eaid: 

"My lords,' the novelty of my situation win plead for any want ^ 
of fluent utterance, and I therefore pray your indulgence if I am 
necessarily tedious. I thank the juiy for their kind recommenda- 
tion to mercy, which I know is well meant, but also knowing, as 
I do, what that mercy will be, I can only wish that their recom- 
mendation will not be acceded to. Why should I fear deaUif 
What is death 1 The state of passing from thU life into another. 
I trust that God will pardon me my sins, and that I win have no 
cause to fear entering the presence of the Ever Living most Merci- 
ful Father. I do not recoUect having in my life mjured a human ' 
being intentionally, and in my late conduct I see no cause for re- 
gret—I mean in my political conduct. Why then, I say, should I 
fear death. I leave the dread of death to such despicable wretches 
as Coiydon and Massey. Corydon I a name once so suggestive of 
sweetness — now the representative of a loathsome monster. If 
there be anything that can add to Corydon's degradation " 

Chief Justice— " We are willing to give you every latitude, but we 
cannot sit here and allow you to speak of third parties who have 
been examined as witnesses. Strictly speaking, you are only to 
say why sentence should not be passed upon you, but at the same 
time we are very unwilling to hold a very strict hand, but we can- 
not allow you to cast imputations upon third parties, witnesses, or 
others, who may be examined against yon." 

Prisoner— "WeU, as near then as I can answer the question pur 
to me, I shaU say that, remembering that every generation since 
England obtained a footing in Ireland have been sufferers from het 
nile — remembering that every generation have risen to protert 
agamst the occupation of our native soil by England — surely I may 
say that Is an answer to the question why sentence should not be 



2B4 



FENIAN HEE0E3 AND MAETTEa. 



passed on me. In the part I have taken in the late instirreclion, 
I was onl}' conscientiously discharging my duty. Next to serving 
the Creator, I Tjelieve it is man's solemn duty to serve his country. 
[Afier a long pause he continued.] My lords, I have no more to 
say, except to quote the words of the Psalmist, premising that yon 
will understand me to speak of my country as he speaks of his— 
'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cun- 
ning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof 
of my mouth ; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Re- 
member, O Lord, the childi-en of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, 
who said — Raize it, raize it, even to the foundation thereof. O 
daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed, happy shall be he 
that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.' In conclusion, my 
lords, I wish to return my solicitor, Mr. Michael Joseph Collina, 
my thanks for his untiring exertions in my behalt To Mr. Heron 
also, I retiim thanks for his able defence of me. My lords, I have 
no more to say." 

The prifioner then sat down. At that part of his 
addi-ess where he referred, in terms so aprojws, to the 
irrformer, Coi'ydon, the soft and serene expression 
which his face hitherto wore, changed, and his eyes 
flashed scornfully and wrathfully. After the interrup- 
tion of the i-,ourt, he paused for a while, and then, in a 
voice of deep emotion, and with an air of sudden in- 
spiration, he repeated the beautiful words of the 
Psalmist, " And his soul went forth with them;" and 
when he had concluded the quotation and lowered hifl 
eyes, he appeared exhausted from the rush of thought 
and feeling which the words produced. As he repeat«- 
ed the psalm, the Chief Justice leant his head on the 
hench and appeared deeply moved — in fact very few 
eyes in the court-house were dry. Sentence of deatli 
was then pronounced. 



CEOWLET, KELLY AOT) H'cLtTEB. 



285 



McClure is about five feet Beven inches in height, 
light and active, with dark complexion, and reserved 
manners. In social life he was generous, good-natured 
and temperate. As a member of the New York Mer- 
cantile Library Association here, the books he usually 
applied for were on military and kindred subjects. 
His chief study, just before he espoused the Irish 
cause, was " Campaigns of Napoleon," and Doheny's 
" Felon's Track." 

KeUy is about five feet six inches in hight, slightly 
but compactly built, with a fair complexion, oval face 
and blue eyes. He was " a swift and clean compos- 
itor," a proficient French scholar, and had a habit of 
insisting on everything being done well and to the 
minute. His temperament is highly poetical, and h» 
possesses considerable literary talent. Among his other 
avocations in New York he was writing a ti-agedy, 
and had it nearly completed, when his passion for mil- 
itary knowledge absorbed all his faculties. He was 
brought up in the Protestant faith ; but his joining his 
comrades in the " Kosary of the Blessed Virgin " dur- 
ing their lonely vigils in KHclooney "Wood, shows how 
little he was actuated by religious prejudices. 



286 



FEIJUN BEBJDEB A2iD UASryUB. 



l^nCHAEL DOHENT, GENEEAL MICHAEL 
CORCOEAN, JOHN O'MAHONY, JAMES 
STEPHENS. 



Bke(cho'Mlehi>';lDoheny-T(mth atthePlonyh— Doelrc forKncmli«l«6— Btna- 
len i-n k uii Ijitin— Life In I/ondon— WrllcB for the Preuft— Admitted tolhB 
Bar— National Orat ir la the O'Cooncll Movement* — Joins y. ong IreUnd 
Par y, aud Writ«B for the "Natlou 'and "Trfbnne"— EwaipeB toTranw »n<l 
Cornell to Amirlca— Lite In New York— Hopcn for Ireland— Death. Sketch of 
Ocncral Onajran— Son of a HalM'ay Officer- In the Con ■■tabnlary— Emigrate* 
to Arocrio*- Joins the 09 h N, Y. 8. M.— ^Jrdtrljr 8erj;<:0Dt, Licnlcrjnnt, Cap- 
tain — Complimented by the In«f»ector-Oener»l— Eleoied Colonel— RelaeeB to 
Parade tbeBBth In Honor of the Prince of Walcii—Coart^martlflied— Breaking 
Out of the R';hclllon— AdvlBen the (fflth to go to the War— Conrt^inirtlal 
Qnanhed, md Popular Appiaane— Servlcefof the B!)th— Corcoran Captored at 
Btill Kon-ln Pricon— H'-ld ae HonUge for a Privateer— Cabinet Conndl on 
Exchange of Priaoncru— LibCTaU;d— Oreat Ovation— In the Field Again with 
thelrlHh Legion— Defeat* Pryorand BaffleBLongHtreet^Deff.iiccof WoKhlng- 
ton— Death. Skcteh of John O'Mahony-Poyltlou In '4S-What I..nuet.ced 
bin Political Career— Hereditary Dlnpnle* 14<tMcen the O Mabonyn and the 
Earls of Kli>^l<in-Dca h of O'Mahony'a Kathcr-L'^ving the Family Residence 
nt Kllberiny— Firrit Ideas on tlie land QaeBllon— BhclUjrs the Young Ireland 
Ontlaws— Joined by Ravage — The " R/roj.lng of Moaloagh " — Rif Ings In Sep- 
tember— Project* the K<;leaRe of O Brlen— Perilons Escape— To Wale*— To 
Fr»ncc. Sbtchof James Stephens— Civil Englhcer—In Kilkenny In «>— 
Takes Charge of O'Donohne en route to Smith O'Hrien— Remains with th« 
latter— At Klllei.aulo and Baillngarry— f>n the Hills— Escapes to Franco— 
CMabony and Stcphfms In Paris — .Join a R':volotir>nary Sf*cic1y — O'Mahony a 
Gaelic Tutor— Stcph'-ns the French Translnlor of Dickens— O'Mahony goes to 
America— Stephens to Ireland— A rreBfjd-Ri-pud la Ics British L«« B'jfore the 
Magistrates— Encape from Prison— In America— Eetlrement — O'Mahony de- 
fines bis Pnaent Position. 

Tnp; cxttnsion, if not the very existence of modem 
Fenianism, is indebted to the men whose names head 






•i,- > 









^ 



DOHENT, CORCORAH, o'MAHOlTr A BTEPHENS. 287 

this chapter. The existence of Irish disaffection is not 
owing to any one man, but to the sufferings of many 
from generation to generation. Doheny has truly said 
that " the disaffection of Ireland is immortal." But 
there is none the less honor due to those who combine, 
organize and direct disaffection, so that it may cope 
with oppression, redress grievances, and finally confer 
freedom. Of these fosterers of disaffection, founders 
of the Brotherhood, and propagandists of the organiz- 
ation, two are in the grave, and two in retirement. 
The memories of the dead are eloquent with great 
truths nobly spoken, great deeds nobly done, great ex- 
amples which cannot be buried with them. The acts 
of the living speak for themselves. The life and ser- 
vices of either of these four men might easily and in- 
structively be extended to a volume ; but a briet 
sketch is all that can be furnished here. Being widely 
known, however, there is less necessity for detail than 
in the ease of others treated of in this book. 

The name of Michael Doheny is intimately associ* 
ted with every movement suggested by the ills of hia " 
country, or projected for their amelioration, for more 
than a quarter of a century before his death. His life 
was an evidence at once of the imtameable nature of 
indigenous ability, and of the cares which unconquer- 
able devotion to an idea engenders and overcomes. 
His first twenty years were as remarkable in their un- 
lettered throbbings, as the remainder were active in 
the rostrum, at the hustings, in the journal ofiice. In 
those latter years he was but putting into energetic 
and eloquent service the visions and impulses that vis- 



288 



FENIAH HEE0E6 AND MAETTE8. 



ited him at tlie plough. Actually, he was an inspired 
plough-boy.* Doheny boasted of the transition, waa 
proud of alluding to his youth ; and looking at the po-. 
sition he attained, the speeches he made, and the vari- 
ous waitings, both in prose and verse, from his accom- 
plished pen, there are none who can deny the assiduity 
and energy that must have produced such results. 

Doheny was bom 22d May, 1805, at Brookhill, near 
Fethard, County of Tij^perary. His early life, like 
that of so many eminent men, both dead and living — 
who have left their deep track on the road of renown, 
like Jackson and Clay, Webster and Douglas, Corwin 
and Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson — was occupied in 
labor — learning those needs which they, in after life, 60 
eloquently advocated for the masses. The son of a 
BmaU farmer, young Doheny's days were chiefly spent 
at the plough, not always attentively driving it, to bo 
Bure, but ostensibly so; di'inking in the memories 
which every hDl and stream, the clouds of sunshine 
and shower overhead, and the gray ruins about him 
presented, so typical of his country's gloom and glory. 

His early education was scanty, but a natural desire 
for books, and the unappeased hunger for knowledge 
which their perusal created, ^oon made a suggestive 
foundation for the future orator, writer, and patriot 
He had closely approximated to the age of manhood 
before an opportunity presented by wliich he could 
approach the classics. With his usual energy, he at- 
tacked and captured Latin and Greek ; and fortified 
with them, he graduated fiom the field into the study 

• '88 &Dd 'IS— p. Ml. 



DOHENT, tX>E00RAN, o'mAHONT & STEPHENB. 289 

as a tutor, and waa thus enabled to solidify by use the 
acquirements he had made. An intellect so strong 
• and so busy soon found utterance by the pen ; and af- 
ter some telling essays on local politics, he mainly sup- 
ported himself by its use on the London press, when 
he sought that city to put in his terms at the Temple 
as a Student of Law. The means adopted for a living 
in London necessarily made him a student of the lead- 
ing men who ruled Great Britain, the measures they 
discussed, the whole modus operandi of British politics. 
In after life, this knowledge was of the greatest use in 
the frequent impromptu debates his great powers as a 
public speaker forced him into. 

Admitted to the bar, he returned to his native coun- 
try, and, fixing his headquarters in the ancient city of 
Cashel, he was ever afterwards identified with it until 
increasing force and an irrepressible influence made 
him not only a potent man in his county, but in the 
nation. Ever throbbing with the feelings of the peo- 
ple, he became one of the most popular tribunes of our 
day, at times rivaling even O'Connell. In the days of 
the Catholic Association — in the brilliant fight for 
Catholic Emancipation, under the lead of Richard 
Sheil and O'Connell ; in what was known as the " tithe 
war ;" in every struggle, great or small, in which a 
popular right was involved, there waa to be found the 
trenchant logic, the impassioned force, the popular en- 
ergy, the poetical sympathy, the broadly-enunciated 
principle, the bold invective, the high-souled apostro- 
phe — to suit the mood or measure of the people — from 
the glowing heart and gifted head of Michael Doheny- 



2?0 



FENIAS" HEROES AND MAETTES. 



His patriotic energies expanded with tlie increasing 
necessities of tbe Repeal cause. He was one of the 
most ready and reliable of the gifted band which cir- 
cled " The Liberator " throughout the great Kepeal 
movement ; and mixing with the still younger blood 
which infused its passion and power into the national 
cause, in prose and verse, through the columns of the 
^atio7i newspaper, contributed many powerful and 
timely essays and poems to that then splendid organ. 

His prose writings were characterized by a suggest- 
ive force and simplicity of argument which quickly 
supplied the populace with ready reasons for National 
discussion ; while his occasional poems breathed a lov- 
ing and strong effalgence of inspiration caught from 
the hiUs and vales of his dear Tipperary. In every- 
thing he then, or indeed ever, wrote, there was a direct, 
unswerving, hopeful purpose, growing from or guiding 
his intense and devoted love of country. He touched 
nothing but to draw a lesson of perseverance from it, 
t6 incite to noble passion in the public mind. He was 
the author of that apothegm which became one of the 
world-honored shibboleths of the " Young Ireland " 
party — " Educate, that you mat be feee ! " and by 
every means he sought to illustrate, the ennobling sen- 
timent by pen and tongue. 

In addition to his constant labors in the sanctum 
and on the rostrum, he was a member of the celebrated 
'82 Club, an active member of the Council of the Re- 
peal Association, and the important sub-committees 
to which were variously referred the questions of 
finance, Parliamentary duty, internal resources, which 



DOHENT, C0EC0RA.K, o'MAtlOKY & STEPfrENS, 2^1 

agitated or illustrated the times. Some of the ablest 
reports were from his pen. 

When the younger branch of the Association de- 
clined to be the simple satellites of O'Connell, he join- 
ed them, as he ever was the advocate of free speech 
and the right to differ. In the new organization, the 
Ii-ish Confederation, he was still more eminently promi- 
nent and effective, and in '48, after the " three days 
of Paris " had lit the fires of popular revolution aU 
over Europe ; after the prosecution of O'Brien, 
Meagher and Mitchel, and the still further prosecution 
and banishment of the latter, Doheny flung himself 
wholly into the revolutionizing of the island by force 
of arms. , 

He wrote in the Irish Tribune, and on the seizure 
of that and other national journals, took to the hills 
with the other leaders. The adventures he passed 
through with a price on his head, the untiring energy 
with which he went among the people, the passionate 
yearnings of his soul, as well as the endealvors of his 
associates, have been — as far as circumstances would 
allow — recorded by his own pen. 
■ It is not the time for us to follow him through all 
the hopes and heart-burnings, the attempts and devo- 
tion of that gallant band. Suffice it, they were nn- 
successlul; and Doheny, making his escape as a 
drover, first found his way across the Irish Channel to 
London, thence to Paris, and ultimately to the United 
States — landing in "Sew York early in 1849. He 
made this city and its vicinity his home to*his death. 
For many years he practiced as a lawyer, became 



292 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETTE8. 



known in politics and letters, as an able speaker and 
lecturer, and otherwise endeared himself to his friends 
and many men of distinction bj those loveable char- 
acteristics of head and heart whicli we can but faintlj 
analyze here. 

Amid the many vicissitudes surrounding the exile, 
Michael Doheny kept "the whiteness of his bouL" 
The same star that shone over his hopes in Ireland and 
led him into exile, was his beacon and his glory in it. 
His brain was ever liluminated by it. It was to him 
the eternal and unquenchable lamp in his temple of 
immortality. The hopes and feelings which l»ent in 
homage to'it, found vent in participation in various 
Irish societies and military organizations, and in the 
constant use of his pen and tongue, whenever oppor- 
tunity presented to expound or give aid and comfort 
to the darling projects of his manhood ; in all of whicli 
he was lovingly and enthusiastically seconded and ani- 
mated by a devoted wife, and by a sister-in law — now, 
alas, no more— to whose untiring solicitude, under aU 
circumstances of his career, lie has left us most touch- 
ing and ennobling testimony. He was a member of 
every society started in New York for the dissemina- 
tion of Irish principles, or the aid of those who kept 
alive the patriotic fire in Ireland. His connection 
-mth the Fenian Brotherhood has already been noticed. 
His soul was centered on it. It presented to him a 
lirospect which would more than repay liis life-lon<r 
labors — under every change of fortune — to the great 
cause. But he passed away before it had assumed the 
gigantic proportions which set the world wondering. 



/ 



DOHENT, COECOEAN, o'jIAHONT 4 6TEPHEN8. 293 

^ After a brief illness, Doheny departed this life at 
his residence. Eighteenth street and Ninth avenue, 
South Brooklyn, at half-past nine o'clock, on the night 
of the Ist of April. The suddenness of his decease 
sent a thrill through the hearts of his comrades and 
friends, as well as the community at large, which has 
not yet, even after five years, been tempered down to 
a calm comprehension of the sorrowful fact. Those 
who knew and loved him, those who had such hopes 
in his faith, can scarcely yet realize that Michael 
Doheny is no more— that the hearty energy and elo- 
quent tongue, which once indicated so stalwart a phy- 
sique and so luxuriant an inteUect, can no more come 
within our circle to enliven us with his brilL'ant and 
loving reminiscences, and exalt us with the holy pur- ' 
poses in which he alone lived, moved, and had a. 
being. Doheny was one of those fii-mly-knit, hearty 
men, whose departure to the "shadowy land" we 
rarely permit ourselves to think of, much less to dwell 
on. In his instance, the love and affection his purity 
and innocence of heart instigated and won, placed at 
a still more remote distance any anticipations of so 
sad a reality. 

The officers of the Sixty-ninth Eegiment, and those 
of the Phoenix Brigade, attended his remains to the 
Calvary cemetery, where all that was mortal of the 
exiled orator, poet, patriot and man, Michael Dolienv 
was lowered into the grave by John O'Mahony 
R.d.ardO Gorman, John Savage, Captain John 
Kavanagh, Patnck O'Dea, and John Hughes, who 
were his associates in Ireland. 
13* 



294 



FENIAN nEEOEB AND MAETTEB. 



"WTiile presenting a flag to the Irish Brigade, and 
alhiding to that previously presented to the " Old 
COtli," Judge Charles P. Daly made touching allusion 
to the faith of the Irish soldier as represented by Mi- 
chael Corcoran. " At the head of it (the 69th)," he 
Baid, " was the noble-minded, high-epirited and gal- 
lant officer, to whom bo much of its after-character 
was due — a descendant by the female line of that 
illustrious Irish soldier, Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of 
Lucan, whose name is identified with the siege of 
Limerick, and who fell fighting at the head of his 
brigade upon the bloody field of Landen. * * * 
Colonel Corcoran is now within the walls of li rebel 
prison, one oi the selected victims for revengeful 
Southern retaliation ; but he has the satisfaction of 
feeling that he owes his sad but proud pre-eminence 
to having acted as became a descendajit of Sarsfield." 
At the same fight — the siege of Limerick — which 
made Sarsfield immortal, the O'Corcoran's of Sligo 
were not without a representative who inspired the 
muse of Carolan. In the second volume of the Iriek 
Ifirostrday (Hardiman), will be found a hearty song 
from the Irish, commencing — 

" O'Corcoran, thy fame be it mine to proclaim," 

in honor of one of the heroes of that struggle. Thonv 
as Corcoran, an officer in the British service, re- 
turned from tlie West Indies, and having retired on 
half-pay, was, in the year 1824, married to Miss Mary 
McDonogh. Of this union sprung Michael Corcoran, 
■Who was bom on the 21st September, 1827, at Car- 



FEKIAN DEEOEB ACT «AErrE8. 



295 



rowkeel in the County of Sligo. .Ifter receiving ^ 
English education, he spent some three years in the 
Irish ConstabulaiT estabUshment-resigned tluB^ 
sition, and emigrated to Amenc. m 1849. G^ 
with a keen, clear intellect, and living nothing to 
rely on but his own exertions, he ^sa almost immedi- 
ately employed. He exhibited dii^tness of purpoBe, 
unimpeachability of action, and etrc^ natura talents 
The former made him friends, a^d the latter kept 
awake an honorable ambition, which subsequently led , 
to distinguished position. , . j <l. ^ 

The military career of Corcoran may be dated from 
his entrance into the €9th Kegiment, N. T. S. M., as 
a private. Here the military pa^eion which was 
strengthened by early discipline, developed, and he 
became Orderly Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain, in 
which position the troubles on St^ten Island, known 
as the " Quarantine War," found him. He was then 
Senior Captain of the Regiment, and the Inspect^- 
. General's report paid him a very marked tribute : 
"What I might say of Captain Corcoran, command- , 
ing Company A, as to his military knowledge, would 
not add to his already well-kno.^-n reputation as 
among the best, if not the very best officer of hifl rank in 
the first division." On 25th August, 1859, Captain 
Corcoran was elected Colonel, to fill a vacancy; and 
from that time his name and that of the E^giment 
were synonymous. The former was brought before 
the whole couutry on the occasion of the visit of the 
Prince of Wales to New York, arcoran deeply 
. t;jjnputhi/cd with the cause of Irish Natianahty ; he 



296 DOHEST, COECOEiS', o'mAHOXT <fe 6TEFHESK 



•was the personal friend of several of tiie exil^ who 
, were prominent in '48, and, last — not least — was one 
of the founders of the Fenian Brotherhood. He de- 
clined to parade the Irish-bom citizens nnder his mili- 
tary command, to do honor to the son of a Sovereign 
under whose rale and in whose name the best men raised 
in Ireland for half a century were banished. He was 
consistent with the heroes with whom tradition associ- 
ated his blood, not less than with the corps he com- 
manded ; his own theories, and the principles of the 
Brotherhood be sought to extend. This action brought 
Corcoran under c-onsiderable censure and a court-mar- 
tial ; but there was a speedy change in the opinion of 
those who thought the ruthless conduct of Great Britain 
to the Union during the war a base requital for the 
hospitality extepded to the heir-apparent. 

Colonel Ccffcoran's action at the breaking ont of the 
Ittbellion was quite characteristic of his patriotic 
character. His unselfish and upright course was one 
of the most severe blows the sympathizers with secession- 
in the North recei red. Many of the offic-ers of the 69th 
were donbtfhl of the propriety of " turning out " while 
their Colonel was undergoing a cou.'-t-martial for an' 
net which they justified. Immediately, Corcoran, in 
a public letter, implored them not to take him into 
any account, but to stand liy the flag of the Union 
and the sacred principles involved in its sustainment. 
The com-t-martial was quashed ; tlie Union sentiment 
of tl:e Irish rushed like a torrent into the ranks of the 
army ; and the C9th left for the seat of war, attended 
by one of the greatest demonstrations recorded in the 
histoiy of New York. 



FENIAN HEEOES AND HAETTE8. 



297 



In the pro'gress of the arduous labora assigned to 
his command, Colonel Corcoran won the esteem of the _ 
heads of the War Department, and the applause of 
the United States officers with whom he co-operated- 
As the bulwark and avant^ard^. of the brigade, hav- 
ing in special charge the defence of the principal ave- 
nues from Yirginia into Washington, the 69th won 
enduring honors. AU through its service-at Anna- 
polls along the railroad to the Junction ; at George- 
town' ; during the building of Fort Corcoran— a name 
conferred by the War Department— along Arlmgton 
Heicrhts ; at the relief of the Ohio troops at the 
raifroad near Vienna; the various midnight alarms 
and preparations in and out of camp ; and the- 
subsequent movements at Centreville, ending at 
the battle of Bull Eun— the indomitable Colonel 
eave his regiment unceasing examples of courage 
and patriotism. He greatly distinguished himself 
at BuU Eun, and we believe was the only one 
officiallv chronicled (see General ^Sherman's report) 
as having brought his regiment off the field m a hol- 
low square.* In this duty Corcoran was wounded, 
and soon after captured. For some time he was pri- 
soner in Eichmond ; afterwards at Castle Pmckney, 
Charieston harbor; and in anticipation of an assault 
by the Port Eoyal expedition, he was removed to Co- 
lumbia, in the interior of South Carolina. Soon after 
his capture, he was offered liberation on condition that 
he would not again take up arms. Indignantly repel- 

. Sec -Notable Men of the Tune," &c, M Edition; Erank lloors. H. T, 
G. P. Pnaam; trom wblch ihl« sketch IB condenwd. 



■ 298 DOHENT, CX)EOOEAN, o'mADOOT <k 8XEPHENB. 

ling the OFerture, he avowed his faith in the Union, 
and declared he would take np anns just as s-on aa 
circumstances would permit. 

Upon Colonel Corcoran, probably more than on any 
other of the Union prisoners, was public attention 
fixed at that time. The announcement that he was 
chosen as one of the hostages for the safety of the 
privateers, condemned to death as pirates, sent an in- 
dignant thrill of pity and shame throughout the North, 
and fixed more intently and impatiently the minds of 
thinking men on the subject of a general exchange of 
prisoners ; and a commission, composed of Hiram 
Barney, Esq., Collector of New York, Judge Daly, 
and Messrs. Eichard O'Gorman and John Savage' 
Esqs., was induced to proceed to Wasliington to con- 
fer with the Cabinet and Congress on the immediate 
and humane necessity of such a proceeding. For 
several days the Committtee were activelv engaged 
canvassing the leading minds at the seat of Govern- 
ment, and on the 10th December, they were invited 
by the President to attend a foil Cabinet council. 
Their efforts were satisfactory in an eminent degree.* 
In August, 1862, Colonel Corcoran was exchanged, 
and immediately commissioned by President Lincoln 
as Brigadier General, to date from the day of his cap- 
^ire. The progress of Corcoran from prison to New 
York, through camps, cities and towns, was a brilliant 
and marvelous ovation, and served only to bring out 
more folly the dignity of his character, and to develop 
his dormant talents in a very remarkable manner. 

• "Notable Men," 4c, p. 62, 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AOT) MAKTTE8. 



299 



His speeches, in reply to munioipal addresses and pop- 
ular outbursts, attracted universal attention to him as 
a man of prompt thoughts and felicitious expression, 
as well as of unflinching courage and decisive action. * 
Immediately entering on his new duties, he recruited 
and organized the famous " Irish Legion," and was in , 
the field by the middle of November, reporting to 
Major General Dix at Fortress Monroe. He imme- 
diately encamped at Newjwrt News, and towards the 
end of December proceeded to Suffolk. In January 
General Corcoran, in command of several details from 
the various regiments of the division, was sent to clieck 
a movement of the rebels, under General I'lyor, acroBS 
the Blackwater. At four o'clock, on the morning of 
the 30th, the troops struck the enemy neai- a deserted 
house, from which the fight that ensued took its name. 
The rebels were repulsed, and the Genera! command- 
ing, Major-General Peck,' issued the following order: 

" Hbadqtjaetees, Suffolk, Va., Feb. 6, 1863. 
•'The commanding General desires to thank Brigadier General 
Corcoran aod the troops assigned to his copimand, for their good 
conduct and gallant bearing in the engagement of the 80th Jan- 
uaiy, 1863, at Deserted House, which resulted m driving the enemy 
to the Blackwater." 

In April Longstreet and Hill invested Snffolk with 
over thirty thousand men. Dm-ing this seige General 
Corcoran, who had been assigned to the command of 
the first division of the Seventh Coitus, made a recon- 

» It is to be hoped that these addresees. and especially Ms correspondence 
Kith Captain JamL-9 B. Kliker. and other friends, portions of which have foniid 
their way Into print, wiD be cuUcctcd and given o his countrymen entire. 



300 



DOHENT, COECOEAIT, o'mAHONT & STEPHENS. 



noisance, with about five thousand men, to find out 
;.the positiou and strength of the enemy, and had a 
brisk engagement on the Edenton Eoa'd, uncovering 
the enemy's position and driving him from the breast 
works. This gallantry again drew forth the special 
congratulation of the Department Commander. la 
consequence of the disability of General Peck, who 
was confined to his bed, the chief command devolved 
on General Corcoran, who completely baffled Long-- 
street, who raised the siege after a month's vain efibrtt, 
and after the raisingof most extensive works to effect hia 
object. The rebels driven over the Blackwater, Long- 
street being compelled to retire, the evacuation of 
Suffolk was decided on ; and the important dutv was 
assigned to Corcoran. He was now placed iu" com- 
mand of the defences of Portsmouth; thence to the 
Department of Washington, and assigned an import- 
ant position for the defence of the Capital. ' ffis head- 
quarters were at Centreville, and subsequently at 
Fairfax Court House, where occurred the sad accident 
which depri^^ed (on 22d December, 1863,) the army of 
the Union of one of its most devoted officers, and the 
future army of Ireland of an efficient leader, who 
hoped to culminate his miHtary career on an Irish 
battle-field for Irish rights. 

General Corcoran was, as stated, one of the foun- 
ders of the Fenian Brotherhood, and through the days 
of its trials one of its most hopeful workers. He saw 
it spread to be a power, to vindicate its military char- 
acter on the field for republican liberty and the Irish 
name J was one of the Central Council, and gave 



FENIAN HEEOES AND HAETTE8, 



301 



every facility to extend its ramifications through the 
army, so that the best and bravest soldiers might be^ 
enlisted in the cause so dear to his heart. 



On the banks of the Suir, at a place called Mnl- 
louc^h, in the County Tipperary, there lived, in the 
beginning of '48, a gentleman farmer of ajnple means , 
and thorough education, of unassuming manners aud 
devoted patriotism, in whose warm southern natures 
deep knowledge of the ancient Celtic tongue and mis- 
fortunes brooded and tinct with a silent but lofty ven- 
eration and enthusiasm, the hopes and aspirations 
which at the period manifested themselves in the 
Youn<^ Ireland party— who, in a word, was a •' rebel; 
a pur^souled, high-hearted, courageous, and in his dis- 
trict—which encompassed the counties oi Tipperary, 
Waterford,* and lulkenny— most powerful rebeL His 
name was John O'Mahony. * 

O'Mahoro^ was bom at Clonkilla, a lovely spot m 
the south bank of the Funcheon, as it flows out_(rf 
Mitchelstown demesne, and reared at Kilbenny, with 
which the pleasantest associations of his early life are 
connected. With it also -are connected memones 
which are deeplv and intensely reflected in his politi- 
cal career. Kilbennv had been the firet resting place 
of the branch of the O'Mahony's wliich settled in the 
neighborhood. They held it of the Earls of King- 
ston- who in turn held Clonkilla of the O'Mahony s 
Their families were hereditary and bitter enemies, and 



302 



DOHENT, OOEOORAN, o'liAHONY A STEPHENS. 



on the death of John O'Mahony's father, who had 
-*been a powerful Nationalist, and with whom'the lease 
of K.lbenny expired, the fiat went forth that the 
O Mahony's should he exterminated, as there could 
not be "two lords" in that neighborhood. To' be 
thus compelled to leave the hearth which had become 
Bacred by family associations, at the will of an upstart 
Saxon lord, was like tearing out the heart of O'Maho- 
ny. It was in 1840, while pacing for the last time 
the deserted rooms of the old house, which still stands 
over the weird town Loch-na-Anna, that John O'Ma- 
hony first conceived those ideas on the Irish L^nd 
q^uestion, which he has since brooded over and advo- 
cated until they have become a distinguishing charac- 
teristic of Fenianism. He learned to feel for the 
other victims of the Irish Land law by the poignancy' 
ot his own grief and indignation. Against such 
wrongs he did not see the use of what was called 
Constitutional agitation;" and it was not nntH he 
saw the young Irelanders about to take the field that 
he exerted the miluence which his family wi-ongs and 
his associations with the people gave him 

men the leaders took "to the hiUs," he succored, 
aided, and cheered them.'knd when they were arrest- 
ed, wandering outlawed through the island, or seekinij 
the shores of America and France, O'Mahony stUI 
brooded over the wrongs and sorrows of the fathei-land. ^ 
He could not leave his native hills. He looked down 
the golden valley of the Suir, and said, as CromweU 
said when gloating over the same scene, "This is a 
countij worth fighting for." Looking for O'Brien 



FENIAH HEE0E8 AND MAETTE8. 



303 



and Meagher, John Savage met O'Mahony, and they 
remained together, organizing the country while any*, 
hope remained. Doheny says, "they spent many 
anxious nights in counsel together, when it was sup- 
posed all spirit had left the country. The first os- 
tensible object that brought the people together under 
their immediate guidance and control, was the reap- 
ing of a field of wheat belonging to O'Mahony. A 
vast crowd, amounting to -several hundred stalwart 
men, assembled. They had scarcely entered on their 
labor when the approach of a troop of horse was an- 
nounced. O'Mahony and Savage were compelled to 
retire. The military cavalcade rode through the peo- 
ple and the com, but the reapers desisted not, giving 
no pretext for any arrests or further outrage from the 
soldiers."* The time for defiance and resistance waa 
yet some weeks ahead. Savage at once threw the in- 
spiriting scene into the following verses, to a popular 
air : 

THE REAPING OF MOULOUGH.- 

Air—" Ibish Mollt O." 

If Natvtre gave to human life a centuried length of years, 

And with them gave the strength of mmd for which age only 

fears, 
111 bless that glorious harvest-day, and chronicle the date, 
For 'tis a smile 'midst mem'ry's tears 'for sorrowed 'Forty-eight. 

From far and wide the Reapers came, through love our cause they 

bore, 
From Commeragh's wild to Slievenamon— from Grange to Galt«e- 
more; 
• Dohenj'B " Felon's Track," P- 157-S. 



^^S3EJ 



S04- DOHENT, COEOOEAN, o'm.VHONT 4 STEPHENS. 

Like streamlets rushing to the sea, like wreck'd men to a rock, 
They hurried down, and gathered at the Reaping of Moulough. 

God bless the sturdy Reapers 1 and God bless the mind that gave 
The thought that made their sinews aid and help the outlawed 

brave 1 
The minds that Dve in noble deeds, all earth-made vaunteni mock, 
And souls like yours are Freedom's hope, ye Reapers of Mou- 
lough 1 

Oh I bend the Reapers joyfully ! —the hook with fervor plies^ 
And maidens of the sunny south bind up the falling prize 1 
Oh 1 may the tyrants of our soil so fall before our wrath. 
And wives of Irish victors aid to bind them in their path I 

Bright thoughts of Freedom 'woke my mind, as bound was stook 

and sbeaf ; 
There thousands not less noble souls around the noble Chie^ 
And eager waited but the word to make each stook a rock — 
To plant the Flag of Freedom at the Reaping of Moulough I 

The organization of the disaffected districts resulted 
in the insurrectionary movements in Tipperary and 
Waterford, "which commenced on the 12th Septem- 
ber. O'Mahony, by a series of really startling adven- 
tures, eluded the vigilance of tlie police. He was in 
Clonmel during the trial of O'Brien, organizing a 
force to attack the Court House, when he was dis- 
covered, and saved himself by leaping from a back 
window. He ultimately escaped from Island Castle, 
between Bonmahon and Dungarvan, in the .County 
Waterford, in a collier, and was landed in Wales, 
wliere he remained for six weeks, until an opportunity 
offered lor his conveyance to France. He resided in 
Paris for five years. 



FEKIAN HEEOES AKD MARTTES. 



305 



James Stephens is a native of the City of Kilkenny, 
and is now, probably, between forty-three and forty- 
four years of age. He received a good education, 
which he has continued to enlarge and improve. He 
was by profession a surveyor and civil engineer, and 
during the latter years of O'Connell's repeal agitation 
he was engaged on the great Southern and Western 
Kailway works, at Inchicore, Dublin. About this 
time politics commenced to throw their fascination over 
the young engineer, and he became an attendant at the 
clubs. In the early part of '48 his professional duties 
brought him from Dublin to Thurles, in the County 
of Tipperary, and in the Simimer he took advantage 
of his proximity to Kilkenny to visit his pareiits. 
While in Kilkenny an incident occurred which 
changed the whole current of his life— that was the 
arrest in that city of Mr. Patrick O'Donohoe, who 
was entrusted with dispatches from Dublin to Mr. 
O'Brien. " He proceeded on his mission to Kilken- 
ny," says Doheny, "and there applied to one of the 
clubs. He was known to none of the members, and 
became at once the object of suspicion. It was, 
accordingly, determined to send him the rest of his 
journey und6r arrest, and Stephens and another mem- 
ber were appointed to that duty. They proceeded to 
Cashel, where Mr. O'Donohoe was warmly welcomed 
by Mr.' O'Brien, whose fate he thenceforth determined 
to share. Mr. Stephens came to the same resolution ; 
but the other guard refused to commit himself to for- 
tunes wliich appeared so desperate. With Messrs. 
Stephens and O'Donohoe this very desperation acted 



»«t. 



306 



DOHEirr, COECOEAN, o'lUnONT 4 BTEFHEira. 



as the most ennobling and irresistible inducement 
Thej clung to him to the last, with a fidelity the more 
nntiring in proportion as the circumstances portended 
imminent disaster and ruin." * All through O'Brien'a 
movements Stephens exhibited an earnestness which 
won the approval of all who witnessed it. At Killen- 
aule, when O'Brien'e party threw np some barricades 
to mtercept the passage of a troop of dragoons, young 
Stephens suddenly raised his rifle and covered the 
officer in command ; his finger was on the trigger. 
" One moment," says Mitchel, « and Ireland was in 
insurrection." Dillon sternly ordered him to lower 
his rifle, and the officer, pledginghis honor he was not 
seeking the arrest of O'Brien, was led through by 
Dillon himself. At the Ballingany afi-air, Stephens 
with McManus, and the late Captain John Kavanaugh 
of the Irish Brigade,t was clear-sighted and efficient 
After the failure of O'Brien's movement, he had 
many adventures with O'Mahony and Doheny, and 
finally escaped to France. . 

At this period, the Continent of Europe generally, 
and Paris particularly, was inwoven with a network 
of secret poHtical societies, at once the terror and the 
ofispring of the sway of tyrants. They had peculiar 
fascinations for those whose former attempts at rebel, 
lion had proved failures, simply for the want of previous 
organization of the revolutionary elements. O'Maho- 

• "FeloM' Truck," p. S6. 

...V; R^,"^"' officer whose flrrt wonnd for liberty ™ receiyed In his natlv, 
Inh slp^^^tfrTm" '^"^'^'^^^o,^ co-tr, ou the field of Antietan. 



FENLiN HEE0E8 ANT* MAETTEfl. 



307 



ny and Stephens soon conceived the idea of entering 
the most powerful of those societies, and acquiring the 
means by which an undisciplined mob can be most 
readily and efiiectually marched against an army of 
" professional cnt-throats." Accordingly, they became 
enrolled members and pupils of some of the ablest 
masters of revolutionary science which the nineteenth 
century has produced. In one point alone they n^- 
lected to copy from their continentaT instructors — ^they 
devised no means of?visiting with summary chastise- 
ment such members of their organization as were led 
by ambition, arrogance or cupidity, into the unpardon- 
able crimes of treason and insubordination- 
Stephens was an accomplished linguist, and, in time, 
his knowledge of the French language enabled him to 
contribute to the J'euiUeton columns of the Paris news- 
papers. Every succeeding efibrt of his astonished 
those who were aware of his foreign birth and educa- 
tion ; but his great triumph was his success in trans- 
lating Dickens into French. Those translationa, 
wliich were published, we believe, in Za I*res8e, at- 
tracted the'attention of the Paris literary world, and 
were a source of extreme surprise and gratification to 
the distinguished author of '' David Copperfield." His 
efforts as a litterateur thus brought Stephens a hand- 
some compensation, which, added to certain remit- 
tances which -O'Mahony received from time to time 
out of the remains of his Irish patrimony and the 
product of his exertions as instructor of Gaelic to some 
students of the Irish College, enabled our exiles to 
live comfortably enough, j 



308 DOHENT, COECOEAU, o'mAHONT <t STEPHENS. = 

After working niglit and day at tlieir tuitions, tranB- 
lations, and above all, their revolutionary schemes, it 
was decided to make another attempt, and on a prac- 
tical basis, to organize the Irish race at home and 
abroad, and continue, on a foundation of discipline, 
the struggle for national independence. 

O'Mahony came to America towards the close of 
1853, and Stephens went to Ireland. Under the cog- 
nomen of Shook, the latter, in 1858 and in 1859, was 
known to be an active participator in the " Phoenix 
Conspiracy," and during the prosecutions in Tralee 
aud Cork, which followed, he wa& constantly, referred 
to in the evidence given by the informer, O'Sullivaa 
(Goula.) He disappeared at the time of the trials, 
but returned subsequently. The onward career of 
O'Mahony and Stephens in connection with the Fenian 
organization, is outlined in the historical introduction. 
The latter became widely known, and the author- 
ities were eager for his capture, which was at last 
eifected between five and six o'clock on the morning of 
the 11th November, 1865, by Colonel Lake, attended 
by over thirty police and detectives, who suiTouuded 
his residence, Fairfield House, Sandy Mount. Scaling 
the garden walls, they knocked at the back door. 
Almost immediately Stephens came to the door, 
and inquired " Who was there ? " The constables an- 
nounced themselves as police officers authorized by 
warrant to enter and search the house. Stephens hesi- 
tated in opening the door, stating that he was un- 
dressed. The police promised not to resort to force or 
violence if he complied with their request. Stephens 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AND MAETTE8. 



309 



endeavored to close the door; Mr. Superintendent 
Ryan and Acting Inspectors Hughes and Dawson 
drove it in. Stephens rushed up stairs, followed by 
Hughes, who took him into custody in his own bed- 
room, his wife being in the apartment at the time. 
Mi-s. Stephens started out of the bed, alarmed at see- 
ing the police, and said, "Are you going to take my 
husband from me?" Inspector Hughes then sent, 
down for- Constable Dawson to identify the prisoner. 
Dawson proceeded to the bedroom, and on entering 
said, '• How are you, Stephens ? " Stephens replied, 
" Who the devil are you, sir ? " Dawson then told 
him who he was, and Stephens replied, "Oh, I have 
read enough about you— I want no favor. Wife, yon 
will never see me again." The house was then search- 
ed, and in the adjoining bedrooms were arrested 
Messrs. Kickham, Dufiy and Brophy, who were aU in 
bed at the time. The police, " over thirty in number, 
were well armed, and entered with pistols in their 
hands, but the prisoners offered no resistance. Pistols 
and balls were, however, lying about their rooms, and 
the police" found immense quantities of bacon, flour, 
bread, &c.— enough, in fact, to feed all the parties for 
near a twelvemonth." On some of them, too, £45 in 
gold was found, and a bank check for a larger amount, 
and others of them were likewise well ])rovided with 
cash. The prisoners were placed in separate cabs, each 
in charge of three officers, and were lodged in the 
Lower Castle yard at half-past six o'clock. 

On Tuesday, the lith, the prisoners were brought 
before the Magistrate, under the Treason-felony Act. 



310 DOHENT, OOECOHAN, o'mAHONT & STEPHENS. 

After some farther identification, tte hearing was ad- 
journed to the next day, when Mr. Stephens acted in 
a^v^ery bold manner. In reply to the Magistrates, he 

"I feel bound to say, In jnstiflcation of, or rather with a view 
to, my own reputation, that I have employed no attorney or law- 
yer m this case, and that I mean to employ none, because, in mak- 
ing a plea of any kind, or filing any defence-I am not particuiar- 
y well up m these legal tenns-I should be recognizing BritiBh 
aw m Ireland. Now, I deh^emt«ly and conscientiously repudlata 
the existence of that law in Ireland-its right, or even ita exist- 
ence. I repudiate the nght of itB existence in Ireland. I defv and 
despise any punishment it can inflict on me. Ihave spoken. -^ 

^e prisoners were committed for trial, and removed 
to Kichmond Bridewell 

The defiance of Stephens before the Magistrate, and 
his repudiation of British law in Ireland, tantalized 
the leading English press exceedingly. They sneered 
at his assumption and ridiculed his " I have spoken " 
They had not ceased leveHng their shafts of satire at 
their pnsoner, when the three kingdoms were startled 
by the news of his, escape from prison. A howl of 
mingled mdignation and trepidation went forth, and 
the conviction forced itself upon the minds of those 
who sneered at his defiance, that Stephens "knew 
^yhat he was about." The fear into which the authori- 
ties were thrown sharpened their memoiy, and many 
threats and rumors were remembered, which did not 
add to their peace of mind. Among these was a state- 
ment, made some months before, that Stephens had in 
vanous disguises, visited all the jails in Ireland, had 



mA^ 






FENIAN HEEOE8 AND MABTTE8. 



311 



tested their strength, and declared that none of them 
were strong enough to hold him. " The extreme dat- 
ing and cleverness of the conception and execution of 
this feat," said a Tory journal,* " also recalls to mind 
the fact — a strange one, to say the least — that the 
American Fenians have boasted of the knowledge they 
had contrived to acquire of Irish prisons, and the pow- 
er they had to draw the strongest bolts by which they 
might be held." 

The escape of Mr. Stephens was effected on the early 
morning of November 24. The night was dark and 
tempestuous, and very favorable for the attempt, as 
the storm and rain prevented the incidental noises 
from being heard. The Kichmond prison is situated 
in an isolated position, on the Circular Koad. There 
are no houses in front, and the canal is in the rear. 
The locality is little frequented, especially at night. 
The cell occupied by Stephens was in the corridor 
leading to the eastern wing of the building, and ad- 
joining the Chapel. His cell door was composed of 
strong hammered, iron, and secured by a massive stock 
lock, a huge padlock to a staple, and a thick swinging 
bar. The corridor on which the cell opened was 
guarded by another ponderous iron door of great 
strength and thickness, and also double-locked. But 
these were only the commencement of the obstacles 
that would prevent escape by the doors ; and escape 
from the windows was absolutely impossible. Afl«r 
leaving his cell, the padlock of which had been opened. 



' Dablls Krenlsg IlaQ." 



■MMiaka 



312 DOHENT, COECOEAN, o'mahoNT & SCEPHEKS. 

wiff *'\i'^' ^'/'^ '" P^^^ *^°^^^ -b««t eight- 
locked doors three of which had two locks, and all of 
winch were left open, except one, which wL relocki 
to prevent pursuit. 

At a quarter to four in the morning, Daniel Byrne 

dlr^'lr'^r *'^ ^^^^-' ^'^S that hS 
d^covered two tables, placed one above the other, near 
the southwestern waU, adjoining the Governor's gar- 
den _ It was found that these tables belonged to the 

tance There were no footprints on the upper table 
wh.ch should have been the case had it beeSd ^u 
by any pei-son who had walked through the open pas- 
sages, winch were wet and muddy, as Vrents'^of S^ 
were falhng. The waU bore no marks whatever of 
any person havmg escaped by climbing over it. When 
the Governor and his assistants went to the sectl of 
the pnson in which Stephens had been confined, they 
found the doo,. of the corridor open, and also the door 
of h.s_ceU as bed looked as if he had not recent^; 
slept zn It, and as if he had only n-lled himself up in. 
a railway rug which was found on the floor, and wait- 
ed for the time that his deliverer was to arrive. Ar^r- 
tK^nofthe clothes which he wore on.the mominrof 
his arres he left after him, and he must have put on a 
siut of black, which he had received afew dayrbefore 
His books and papers were in the position they were 
last seen in by the warders. The searchers for [he Z 
^tn-e were not left long in doubt as to the meai^ by 
which the many doors were opened, as a master-keT 
qxute bright, as if it had been onl, re'cently madl^wi 



•tlsmAH HEEOES AJUl) MABTYE8. 



313 



found in the lock of the corridor door. While the de- 
tectives were scouring the city and suburbs, far and 
near, watching the early steamers and vessels going to 
sea, and making active use of the telegraph wires, the 
search and inquiries were continued in the prison and 
in its neighborhood. 

It was quite evident that Stephens was under the 
guidance of a person who knew the prison well, as the 
winding and difficult route from one extreme of the 
prison to the other was accomplished without a single 
blunder, or without balking at a lock or door. This 
added to the anxiety of the officials, which was destined 
to be still further increased and excited on learning 
that Daniel Byrne, who had formerly been a police- 
man, had left that force to join the Battalion of St 
Patrick in the Pope's army, had returned to Ireland 
after the affair of Castelfidardo, and that papers were 
found among his effects associating him with the Fe- 
nian Brotherhood. " With such facts before us," said 
the London TiTnes, " it may be asked. What strong- 
hold of the Government is safe from the treachery of 
men who eat the Queen's bread ? Are the arsenals 
and magazines ? Is the Bank of Ireland ? " 

Byrne was at once arrested, and a proclamation is- 
Bued, offering a reward of £1,000 for infonnation lead- 
ing to the arrest of Stephens, and of £300 for the arrest 
of any person who harbored, received or assisted bim, 
with a free pardon, in addition to the reward, to any 
persons concerned in the escape who would give in- 
formation to lead to his an-est. 

Outside the prison Stephens was met by Colonel T, 



314 DOHEST, COECOEAN, o'mAHONY & STEPHENS. 

J. Kelly and Jolin Flood, and his subsequent escape 
to France and visit to America is told in the sketcli of 
the former, who has since had a still more thrilling, 
though less mysterious, escape from the hands of the 
authorities in Manchester on the 18th September, 

1867. 

Of O'Mahony's labors in America a brief outline 
has been given in connection with the progress of the 
Fenian movement, * up to his retiring from a lead- 
ing part in it, on the arrival of Mj. Stephens in Amer- 
ica. The position of Mr. O'Mahony, then and since, 
has been defined by himself, f and it is due to his sei^ 
vices to give his own words. Of the past, he says : 

For more than eight years I held the position of Chief Officer of 
the Fenian Brotherhood in America. By excessive labor and 
ceaseless vigilance, I built it up till it became the most extensive, 
if not the most effecUve, revolutionary organization of Irishmen 
that ever existed. I may also assert that it would not, with iU 
other surroundings, have ever reached its late magnitude, either 
at home or in this country, but for my persevering exertions. Dur- 
ing all my administrative career, I am not conscious to myself of 
having committed one dishonest or one selfish act. From Jhe first 
to the last, I have had around me, cognizant of my official con- 
duct, many men who have since become my bitterest enemies. 
Not one of these persons has ever come forward openly to charge 
me specifically with such an act, though several of them have be- 
trayed my most secret confidence in other matters. They can- 
not do it During the same time 1 have had official communi- 
cation, both by word and letter, with many thousands, hundreds 

• See HiEtorical IntrodncUan. 

tLctter addresBed to D. O'Sullivan, Esq., Editor " Irieh People," dated New 
York, April Wth. 1867. 



PENIAM HEE0E8 A^^) MARTTES. 



315 



of wliom are also my bitterest enemies now. Not one of these has, 
up to this, cliarged me with ever having deceived him by willul 
falsehood. It cannot be done. 

In reply to the statement that his retirement was 
compulsory, Mr. O'Mahony says : 

My resignation was not alone altogether voluntary on my par^ 
hut I had resolved on that step for some months before it actually • 
took place. My princip'al reasons were, becavise, after the Ist of 
January, 'G6, I could not understand Mr. Stephens' perseverance 
in his war programme in Ireland, and because I felt that there was 
no prospect of an united Fenian Brotherhood in this country, 
which I believed to be an indispensible requisite to success whilst 
I held ray office in it, surrounded and undermined, as I had been 
for some time, by treacherous and wily opponents and personal 
enemies of all kinds. 

Of his position since retirement, he remarks : 

With respect to my present connection with the Fenian Brother- 
hood, I beg to state that I am still a private member of that body, 
and in what is technically called " good btatiding," in the Corcoran 
Circle in this city. But further than this I have had no connection 
with either Mr. James Stephens or with his successors in the gov- 
ernment of the organization for now nearly twelve months. Since 
last May I have taken no part, public or private, in directing their 
acts or counsels. From its commencement I totally dissented 
from that reckless and haphazard course of action of which Mr. 
Stephens gave notice in the now notorious promise made by him 
at the Jones' "Wood meeting last Summer. I condejnned the whole 
tenor of his conduct in the management of Fenian affairs from that 
time up to the hour of his departure for Europe.'* Had I been con- 
•sulted on the subject in time, and had my opinion prevailed In the 
Executive Dcpai-tment of the Brotherhood, no attempt at a rising 
would have been made in Ireland this Spring. 



316 DOHENT, COECOEAiT, o'lIAHONT & BTEFffKNB. 

Of tlie rising in March, and tlie men connected \7itl1 
it, be says : 

Tkcirlatc action bad indeed become indispensable to the present 
honor and ultiniiite success of the Fenian cause, as well as to their 
own charactei-s as honest and devoted patriots. Tlieirs was a dcs- 
perate venture, but it had become both a moral and military neces- 
sity upon their paits by reason of the severe pressure that was upon 
the organization and themselves. Should it fail for the present, it 
has even already advanced and elevated the cause of Ireland im- 
mensely before the world, and has opened the road for others to 
her fast approaching liberation. Our gallant brothers who have 
lately left us must be considered the hardy pioneers of Irehmd'B 
freedom in any case. 



rENlAU HKE0E8 AND MABTTE8. 



317 



THOMAS CLAEKE LUBT. 

Joins TonTig Ireland In '4R, and Gives np his Worldly ProspeclB-Io alTew 
Movement in '49-Arrei=led-P.itrioti8m vs. Family Patron.i-e-N;iti..naI 
Joiimaliem-TravclB with Stepliens-Appearanccs in PiiMic-Vi'eits Amc icm 
—The /r;»» p.opie Suized— Arrested- The Special Commission, the First 
Since the Trial of Emract,_in Dnbiin— Speech in the Dock— Pipndiatcs A»- 
eassiualion-Sentence-IutercBting Sketch of niljp Gray by ilr. Laby. 

One of the ablest writera of the Revohitionary 
Party in Ireland— an eflicient, persistent, working nar 
tionalist, a gentleman, a scliolar, and a thinker, 
Thomas Clarke Luby, in the face of iniblic trial and 
at the sacrifice of private interest, has devoted his 
whole career to the cause of Irish independenee. Ills 
ability is only second to the devotion with which he 
has applied it to national purposes. The son of' a 
clergyman of the established church, and nephew of 
one of the most learned and distinguished fellows of 
Trinity College, Thomas Clarke Luby had prefei-ment 
before him if he had chosen to devote his talents to 
the enemies of Ireland ; but he had the strength of 
heart to put liis strength of brain to different use. His 
cai-eer in Trinity Coll(='ge was most promising, having 
won considerable scholastic distinction at an early ai<e. 
In '4S, however, the brilliancy and truthfulness of the 
Young L'elaud leadere captivated him, and declai-ing 



318 



THOMAS CLAEKE LTTBT. 



himself an adherent of their views and purposes, he 
sacrificed the friendship and patronage of his uncle, 
who was, and is, an extreme loyalist. 

After the capture and banishment of the leading 
patriots of '48, Mr. Luby, in the follo-n-ing year, united 
himself with James Finton Lalor, Joseph Brenan, and 
Philip Gray in a new movement, of which he has 
"given a brief but suggestive account in a sketch of 
Gray. He was one of the five forming the Committee 
of Defence of this new organization, and was arrested 
at Cashel, after an attempt at a rising had been 
made at Cappoquin, 17th Septembo, 1849, and for 
participating in which, Joseph Brenan and Hugh W. 
Collender had to fly to Ajnerica. Luby was kept in 
jail for a short time. During the year '49, and after, 
until its discontinuance, Mr. Luby was a leading wri- 
ter for, and, after Brenan's flight to America, editor of^ 
the national journal called the Irishman. 

After the failure of this journal, Luby continued 
true to his principles through very trying domestic 
difficulties, notwithstanding the inducements held out 
to him by his loyal relative, if he would give up pa- 
triotism and continue his studies for the Irish Bar. 
Luby, however, resisted all arguments and temptar 
tions. 

About this time he went to Melbourne, Australia, 
and returning by way of France, stopped some time 
in Paris, whei'e he met those Irish exiles who had 
taken up their temporary abode in that city. Return- 
ing to Ireland he became connected, in 1855, with a 
new national journal, the Irish Tribune, the chief ed- 



FENIAN HEROES ANP MAETTE9. 



itorial conduct of which devolved upon him; and ve; 
ably did he perform it. Owing, as he states, to tl ; 
mismanagement of its ostensible editor, the pap' 
failed. He subsequently traveled with Stephens- 
raostly on foot — organizing various parts of the con 
try. He gave important aid in founding the Fenis 
movement in Ireland, and was one of its most earne 
as well as prominent organizers and advocates, Tl 
Shamrock makes brief allusion to the appearance ' 
the scholastic revolutionist in public : " On the occ 
sioh of the McManus Committee holding its lat 
meetings, Luby was to be seen and heard at their di 
cnssions, the speaker for, and the director of, a pan 
who followed his behests with unplicit consent. E 
was prominent at the Kotundo meeting, on the aflPa 
of the Trent, and was the writer of the celebrated li 
of those who were to compose the council which w; 
to decide upon the question of agitation in Ireland ( 
not. When the aggregate gathering for the purpo 
of raising a statue to Henry Grattan in College Gree: 
in opposition to that proposed for Prince Albert, wi 
held in the Pound Poom, he was present at its diss 
lution in confusion." Mr. Luby visited the Unitt 
States in the early part of 1863 ; and later in that yes 
the Irish People was started in Dublin. It was 
bold, bright organ of popular rights, discarding tl 
appliances of hackneyed agitators usually indulged i 
by popiilar leaders. It at once struck the popuh 
chord. Its chief writei*s were soon known to 1 1 
Tliomas Clarke Luby, John O'Leary, and Charles . 
Kickham, while J. O'Donovan (Rossa), Denis T)o\ 



320 



THOMAS CLAJtKE LUBT. 



ling Mulcahy, James O'Connor, and other good men 
and true were connected with it in various positions. • 
It was the literary centre of Fenianism in Ireland. 

It was seized on the night of Friday, September 15, 
1S65, and all the men within reach, who were con- 
nected with it, arrested. Two detectives watched the 
residence of Mr. Luby, at Dolphin's Bam, through 
the night, and having gained admission in the morn- 
ing, arrested him and seized such papers as they 
deemed of importance. ■ 

A Special Commission was ordered for the 27th 
November, but, previous to its opening, a motion was 
made in the Queen's Bench, on the 23d, on behalf of 
Luby, O'Leary, and O'Donovan (Kossa), for a writ of 
certiorari to remove any indictment that might be 
found against them at the Commission, on the ground 
that a fair and impartial trial could not be had in 
Diiblin. The unanimous judgment of the court re- 
fused it, and the prisoners were duly brought to trial. 
Luby was the first victim. 

The Special Commission was opened on Monday 
morning, November 27th, in the Court House, Green 
street, Dublin. It was over sixty years since a similar 
tribunal sat there— the last Special Commission for 
Dublin having been issued in 1803 for the trial of 
Robert Emmet. In the interim there have been many 
Special Commissions held in various parts of the coun- 
try — in Limerick, in Tipperary, and other counties 
where so called agrarian disturbances have prevailed ; 
but since the year 1803, the only Special Commission 
which has issued for th§ trial of political prisoners 



FENIAN HEE0E9 AND MARTTE8. 



321 



was the one which, in 1848, sat in Clonmel, and at . 
which William Smith O'Brien, Terence Bellew Mo- 
Manus, Thomas Francis Meagher, and Patrick O'Don- 
ohue were convicted of high treason. The calendar 
of rebels who have stood in Green street Court House 
waiting for their doom, would make a lengthy rolL 
At that same rusty iron bar, which has been grasped 
alike by the meanest felon and the guiltiest murderer, 
have stood some of the best and truest men of Ireland, 
while the game of law was played out for life or death 
before them. The building in which so many memo 
rable trials have been witnessed is a very unpretend- 
incr structure, standing, or rather hidden, in a region 
of"the city little seen by visitors. In the immediate 
neitrhborhood narrow streets and wretched lanes 
abound; and Green street itself is a miserable and 
disreputable looking locality. The Court House ad- 
joined that formidable fortress prison, Newgate— the 
Bastile of the Irish Metropolis— the demolition of 
which hideous relic of barbarous tunes had been com- 
menced a few months previous. 

The admission to the Court House was to liave been 
by tickets, which were issued by the High Sheriff; but 
on the 24th, after the escape of Stephens, all the tick- 
' ' ets issued were declared cancelled by order of " the 
government;" consequently, on the day of the trial, 
few were admitted save policemen. 

In the dock stands— the ubserved of all observers— 
the prieoner, Thomas Clarke Luby, a man apparently 
half way between thirty and forty years of age, of 
middle size, sallow complexion, nose slightly aquiUne, 



■■••"^"•WW" 



322 



THOILVS CLAEKE LUET. 



scanty dark beard and n.onstache. His demeanor is 
^on.ewhat hstless, thongh he is not ia.attentive to what ' 

m!ZV"- 1 * '^' '''^' '^ '^"^ ^«™'^ «-^^ "ot far re- 
moved from hun sit some h,dies. One of them (sadly 
and deeply concerned in all that is passing) is his wife 
-a aiyhter of the poet Frazer, oie of t bardTof 
4b, better Icnown by his nom de plume of «J de 

.onei Dr. Leary, and by her side sits Mrs. O'Don- 
ovan (i.ossa), who seems in mnch better spirits than 
eitlier of her companions. The Attorn'ey-General 
Lawson, a commonplace looking individnal, is stating 
the case,readmg a good deal from the mnltiplicy of 
docnments wh.ch he has before him. Batches, b'^m- 
dle. of the Fenian archives lie on the table. There 
are the ongmals, here are the printed copies in his 
and. Here are letters of John O'Mahony, here are 
be snppressed resolutions of the Chicago Convention 
here is tliat_ fatal document-the letter of James Ste 
phens,^appointmg the Irish Execntive-here are letters" 
ot Keelie. Letters, documents, not by the score, or 
by the dozen, but absolutely by the hundred, are here 
produced-most of them captured in the Irish Peo- 
ple oii,ce, otliei-s taken at the houses of the prisoners 
ihe suppressed resolutions of the Chicago Conven- 
tion proclaimed an Irish Eepublic ; and the letter of 
Stephens vvas m the form of a commission as follows : 

"Ex-ccm!re--I hereby appoint Thomas Clarke Luby John 
O Leary, and Charles J. Kiekham a Committee of OrganizaUon ^ 
Execuuve, with the same supreme control over the home r-°;ni 



FElJIAN HEEOES AND MAEITES. 



32 



T 



zafion of Ireland, England, Scotland, &o., I have exercised raysel 
J further empower them to appoint a committee of military u 
spectiou and a committee of appeal and judgment, the functions ■ 
which will be made known to each member by the Executiv 
And trusting to the patriotism and ability of the Executive, 1 ful 
endorse their action beforehand, and call upon every man m oi 
ranks to support and be guided by them in all that concerns o. 

Brotherhood. „^,-r„ „ 

.<Sig-ned, "JA3IES STEPHENS." 

Dublin, 911i March, 1864. 

Upon a letter of C. IE. O'Keeffe, found in the Iru 
People office, a charge of assassination was based. . ' 
was shown that Mr. Luby was a registered propriety 
of that paper ; and his connection with the organiz 
tion as a chief was testified to by one Nagle, an i 
former, who had been engaged in the establishment ; 
a folder. He was found guilty of treason-felony c 
all the counts, on the fifth day of the trial, and in r,,, 
ply to the usual question, said : |{ 

"Well, my lorSs and gentlemen, I don't think any pereon pi 
sent is surprised at the verdict found against me. 1 have be 
prepared for this verdict ever since I was arrested. iUthougl 
thought it my duty to fight the British Government inch by inc 
to dispute eveiy inch, I felt I was sm-e to be found guilty, sin 
the advisors of the Crown took what the Attorney-General w 
pleased the other day to call the " merciful com-se." Of course 
thought I might have a fiiir chance of escape so long as the cai 
tal charge was impending over me, but when they resolved on ti 
ing me°under the treason-felony act, I felt that I had not t 
sliglitest, smallest chance. I am somewhat embarrassed at t 
present moment as to what I should say. Under the circui 
stances, there are a great many things that I would wish to s? 
but feeling that there are other persons in the same tiluatiou wiji 



324 



FEN-I.Vjq- IIEKOES AND irARTTES, 



myself, and that T might allo^v myself to Vay something injndic-ioiis 
winch ^^•o^,Id peril their cases, I feel lliat my tongue is, to a great 
degree, lied. Kotwithstaudins, there are two or three points upon 
>vh,eli I would say a few words. I have nothins to say of Jnd.re 
Keogli's eharge to the juiy. He did not take up any of tiie topics 
that had been introduced to prejudice the case against me— for in- 
stance, he did not take up the accusation of an intention to assas- 
sination attributed to my fellow-prisoners and myself. The Solicit 
or-General, in his reply to Mr. Butt, referred to these topics. Mr." 
Barry was the first iierson who advanced these charges. I thou^rht 
they were partially given up by the Altorney-General in his open- 
ing statement, at least they were put fomard in a very modified 
form; but the Solicitor-General, in his very virulent speech, put 
forward those charges in a most aggravated manner. He sou dit 
even to exaggerate upon Jlr. Bariy's original stafement. Now, 
Willi respect to those charges, in justice to my chaiacter I must say 
that in this court there is not a man more incapable of anything 
like a massacre or assassination than I am. I really believe that 
the gentlemen who have shown such ability in perseculing me, in 
the bottom of their hearts believe me incapable of an act of assas- 
sination or massacre. I don't see that there is the smallest amount 
of evidence to show that I ever entertained (he notion of a massa- 
cre of landlords and priests. I forget whether the advisers of the 
Ciown said I intended massacre of the Protestant clergymen. 
Some of the writers of our enlightened press said that°I did.' 
Kow, with respect to the charge of assassinating the landloids, the 
only Ihing that gives even the shadow of a color to that charge is 
the letter signed, alleged to be signed, by Jfr. O'lveeffe. Now 
assuming, but by no means admitting, of course, that the letler 
was written by Mr. O'KeelTe, let me make a statement about it. 
I know the facts I am about to state are of no iiraclical utility to 
nie n-ow, at least wilh respect to the judges. I know it is of no 
praclioal utility to me, because I cannot give evidejice on my own 
belialf; but it maybe of practical milily to others wilh whom I 
wish to stand well. I helieve my words will carry conviction, and 
carry nuich more conviction than any words of the legal advi.'eis 
of the Crown can, to more than .300,000 of the Irish race in Iie- 



.'rnoilAS CLAUKK LUBY. 



325 



l,md, England, Scotland, and America. Well, '^'^^^^^ 
that I ever entertained any idea of nss.ssmat,ng '--';'' J^^ 
the letter of Mr. O'Keefie, assuming >t to be h,s ^"«^,r^ f °^ f^ ■ 
evidence on the subject. My acquaintance w»h Mi C cHc w s 
of the .lightest nature. I did not even know of Ins existence 
^vhcn tl iS I'cople was started. He came after that paper 
established a few months, to the office, and ^^^^^^ 
rles- some were rejected, some were inserted, and I call the att. n 
n'oflo Sal advisers of the Crown to this fact, that among he 
;e:s wbichV got, those that were Mr. O^Keefle s a, .des ha^ 
many paragraphs scored out; in fact, we put m no a., cles of Ins 
wSra 1.4 deal of what is technically called " cut.ms down. 

Cl that letter of bis to me was simply a private cocmuent^ 
contained the mere private views of the wr.ter; and I P'^^Se th « 
^ " ourt as a man of honor-and I believe in spUe of the pos.- 
tbn which 1 stand, among my cuntrymen I am believed to be 

an an of honor, and that, if my life depended upon ,t, I would not 

pe". falsely about the thing. When I read that 1; -, and Ua 
■ fi' I gave i' to was my wife ; I remember we read .t w>th fits of 

b , ll ter at the ridiculous ideas contained in it My wife at the 
° , A-d 1 ad I not better burn that letter.' 'Oh, no,' I said, 

;:: r u n ^ as a n^t ridiculous thing, and never dreaming for 

o ..a r-r as 1 can at present dispose of it, ol the cii.u^e oi 

• ni?to aSl "nate the landlords. As to the charge of desiring 

:riSr«;: priests, I deny it, as being the -^--- 

Lgin the worid. ^V^., ^^S^-. -f7^-- ^^ 

articles in.be 1-1— 'j"'^''^, ^ f^' ni as tbey confined them- 



26 



FE.\iAN- HEK0E3 AITD ItAjRTYES. 



^ould be no more thought of him ,hnn nny one oW Tf i • 
a man of ability he will „nt t,„ fi , ^ ■ "• " '"= 's not 

or any one else S w ° .1 f' "' '""''^ '""" ■'' ^"°--'^«r 

! rear. topHests. itl^ ^^^'^ "" '^'^'-^°''^^ ^^''^ 
<U-aI of good, even araonMbo , f '"^''^ "^"^ ^^°"« "^ S''^^' 

doctrines of tlie r./.A P.7, ^ "'"'''' '^'^ revolutionaiy 

evci^=avelj nd^"c?„S 'T ="°°'- ' "'^"^^^'^ nothing eal 

expedients and makeshifts''''"''^ ' ""' '■""^ mere temporary 
4? Keogh-«I am ve.y reluctant to interrupt you. Mr. 

t-..,t the'peopie nouf ;jf il.li";:,:/"- ™-^=^^ f ^-d. It 
temporal matters to the cler J^- t, ^t = , jle ,f " ■'"'"'"''^' '"^ 
clergy upon the altar, they .hmd'd 1 '. 7^ reverenced the 

.o.^^^>;;tL:,i-r,?-rt,si^,--°--* 

those'thiis. I din't ^e to' """'' °°f ' "'""^ *■''' '^''^P°-'<== °f 
be rather bene ,h ?„e P^^ "' """" ="'°"' ">-«'^'^- I' ^-uld 
^-onldsaylsho^dno'hJ Ti"'^'' ^"^'"""^ ^^■'^° '^'""^ me 
at ail-that InZ TU ?," °' "P°" "^^^ «-=^^'^malion charge 
■^ueh impo'rt I ,0 " But [, ^°'""° """"" '° '^"-'^'^'S - 
my life -and whet "e it he ' ,''"'''' '° *"^ '^'^'"•^ ^°-«« °f 

everyman'si«n 1 Lr -"'f ^'-" — ^^ -t, will be for 
man ever loved ireh^ /"='''!"' '° '^'^^"l«-*is I know, that no 

'lone. From e ,bn f' ""^ *" '''' "^"'"'^ ^'-^"•'"' "'^t I J^ave 
years of di c . '""'^ '° '^■"•''' ^'•■'^ b'^'^" 'tailed here the 

s^t: S^"";;s:r;r """^"'^ -'"^ ^^^-^ '-- ''->"«- 

may take a di fere ' "n^""'" V'""""' ""^ ""^'"*- Others 



TnolUS CLAEKE LUBT. 



327 



I suppose, are bound to find according to British law— I were to be 
tried by them— if my guilt or innocence were to bo tried by the 
higherstandardof eternal right— and that the case was put to all 
my countrymen — I believe this moment the majority of my coun- 
trymen ^yould pronounce that I am not a criminal, but that I de- 
sei-ved well of my country. "When the proceedings of this trial go 
forth in the press to the world, people will say tbe cause of li-elaud 
is not to be despaired of— that Ireland is not yet a lost country— 
that as long as there are men in any countiy prepared to expose 
themselves to every difficulty and danger, prepared to brave cap- 
tivity — even death itself, if need be — that country cannot be lost. 
With these words I conclude." 

Judge Keogli said — "Thomas Clarke Luby, you have been found 
guilty of the charge laid against you in the indictment, by a juiy 
who I am sure have given, as I think you yourself must admit, 
tbe case the most careful and the fairest consideration. I do not 
vmderstand you to saj', nor do I think you impute, that they have 
an'ived at any other than a fair conclusion. " 

Mr. Luby — "Yes, according to Britisli law. I do admit I am 
guilty according to British law." 



The prisoner was sentenced to twenty j'ears penal 
servitude. . A slight flush suffused his thoughtful face. 
His eyes shot a quick and brilliant glance round the 
Court, and, saluting his wife and his associates, he 
walked with a firm pace from the dock to the cell as- 
signed him and his fellow-prisoners, and shortly after 
was escorted by cavalry and police to Jlountjoy 
Prison. - 

The accompanying slcetcli of Phillip Gray, besides 
being a worthy tribitte to a devoted nationalist, is an 
interesting link in the revolutionary history connect- 
ing '4S and the raovemeuts which resulted in the 
Peuian organization. 



328 . rENlAI? HEROES AKD lIARTYKa, 



PHILIP GRAY. 

Mr. Gray was secretary of tlie Swift Cliil) in Dublin 
during the Confederate excitement. Mr. Luby 
writes :* 

" "Wlien the Young Ireland chiefs had decided on 
taking the field in the summer of '48, Gray accompa- 
riied a gentleman, since distinguished in America and 
the Antipodes, to the County Mcath, where they 
vainly endeavored to stir up an insurrection. The 
failure, however, nothing daimted him. Abandoning, 
■without a moment's hesitation, an excellent situation 
which he held in the Drogheda Railway ofhce, he 
made his way to Tipperary. Even Smith O'Brien's 
attempt could not dishearten the invincible spirit of 
Gray. He lingered in the South, and contrived to 
. get into commnnication with Mr. John O'Mahony, 
and, though previously unknown to that gentleman, 
succeeded in winning his confidence. When O'Maho- 
ny's insurrection broke out in autumn, that chief 
entrusted the command of the Waterford insurgents 
to Gray, in conjunction with Mr. John Savage.f Gray 

* This sketch, omitting for want of epace a few personal paragraphs, was in 
the fonii of a lellcrtoT. F. Mcagho.r when editing the '" Irish News," In which 
journal iMarch 14, 1S57,) it appeared. 

+ Tliis is not exactly correct. Gray, wary, nnl;nown and alone, in the neigh- 
horhood of Carri>k-ou-Suir, atlract-! O.- .n,,,i, .,,.. ,,1'sonie of fiie CliiWiists, 
wlio arrested him. and sent for Mr. -^ ';,.• I.im. AIth<.ii-li he had 

not met Gray in Dublin, Jlr. S;n -Ikd ofln.' tniih, una the 

"prisoner'' was released with uiu ....a ^.uu.i wi^.;r. Very eooii alter, Mr. 
Savage was requested by a lady— a devoted nalionalis.t— to go to a certain 
Ictr^'^ity on the Watcrford fide of the Suir, nu i\ "rather suspicious person was 



THOMAS CLAEKE LtTBT. 



229 



was present at tlie attack of Portlaw police-barrack, 
and,]iad a share of the adventures of that period. 

" After the unsuccessful termination of the revolu- 
tionary attempts of '48, Gray underwent, for three or 
four months ensuing (the close of autumn and begin- 
ning of winter), the most terrible privations and hard- 
ships. A fugitive from justice in the County "Water- 
ford, he was exposed to cold and wet, and all the 
inclemencies of the weather. He was ill fed, badly 
clothed, generally obliged to sleep in the open air — 
sometimes at the back of lime-kilns — occasionally, but 
very rarely, getting a shake-down for an hour or two 
in a peasant's cabin. During all these sufferings he 
clung to the idea of Irish revolution with invincible 
tenacity. He took advantage of his situation to form 
in the valley of the Suir a secret society, sworn to 
struggle for the cause. It spread from Clonmel to 
Carrick, all over Waterford and the South Eiding of 
Tipper.ary. At a subsequent period, its ramifications 
extended through the N"ortli Riding, Limerick and 
Kilkenny, and the cities of Cork and Dublin. Gray, 
having extraordinary powers of endurance, being an 
indefatigable though ungraceful walker, wandered 
about day after dn.j. penniless, witli broken shoes and 
bleeding feet, spreading his organization through the 
Soufli, though he was momentarily in danger of arrest. 

found prowling ahont a very hot-bed of nationality, and aetained." Guided by 
the lady, >rr. Sa\age went, and to his anuisemeut as well as surprise, found 
the siis)iicioiip peivon to be Gray. He was released, and subsequently became 
a gitit fivurile ii. the lorality. Uis very qualities as a conspirator— the very 
instinct and tact which led him to disaffected dictricts, also g,avo his move- 
ments a suspicious character. To prevent further mischance, it was arranged 
that ho should, in future, either accompany Mr. O'JInhony or Ifr. Savage. 



330 



FENIAN nEKOES AND JUKTTE9. 



His earnestness, possibly his snfTerings also, rendered 
liis appeals to the people's patriotism irresistible. ' At 
last he made his escape to France. Before this, how- 
ever, he visited Dnblin, and determining to make the 
metropolis the headqnarters of his organization, he 
called together three respectable and intelligent young 
men, formerly members of the Swift Club, and, having 
given them the test, constituted the Provisional Direc- 
tory of his secret society. 

" Gray made his way to Paris. He received some 
assistance from his fellow-exiles ; but he 'also endeav- 
ored to support himself by his own exertions. Hav- 
ing learned something of drawing earlier in life, and 
having a natural taste for it, he gave lessons in that 
art. However, after a stay of some months in Paris, 
he was recalled to Ireland in the summer of '49 by 
the late James Finton Lalor, Avho, placed at the head 
of a new Dh-ectory, now virtually governed the secret 
organization. In Dublin, this Society numbered 
about 1,000 men, partially armed. In the country, 
the numbers were far greater. 

" Gray immediately visited the various parts of the 
country in which the organization had taken root. 
His presence was welcomed everywhere. I have seen 
him welcomed in cabins, by men and women, as 
though he were some potent chief. By the members 
of the fraternity he was now looked upon as a sort of ' 
hero. Some were foolish enough to institute invidious 
comparisons between his pretensions and those of Mr. 
Lalor. Thoughts were entertained about this time of 
attempting to rescue Smith O'Brien and his compani- 



THOMAS CLAEKE tUBY. 



331 



ons, who were on the point of removal from the coun- 
try; A letter of John Martin to Mr. Lalor prevented 
the attempt from being made. Some of the leaders of 
the organization, among whom was Gray, subseqiiently 
meditated an outbreak on the occasion of the Queen's 
visit to Ireland. The affair, however, miscarried. 
Finally, in Autimm, an assembly of about eighteen 
delegates met in Clonmel. They decided that an 
insurrection should take place in September, and 
elected a Committee of Defence, consisting of James 
Finton Lalor, Joseph Brenan, Philip Gray, the present 
writer, and another person, who, however, did not act. 
The committee, with the exception of this person, met 
at Clonmel in due time, and arranged that, on the 
lYth of September, simTiltaneous attacks should be 
made on Cashel and Dungarvan. Other movements, 
too, were calculated on. 

" Various causes, however, disconcerted the plans of 
the conspirators. Conspiracies with elaborate pro- 
grammes of insurrection seldom, if ever, succeed. 
Formidable insurrections must be spontaneous, unpre- 
meditated. Tlie promised thousands failed to assem- 
ble at the points of rendezvous. A miserable abortive 
scuflle, indeed, took place at Cappoquin. Joseph 
Brenan was obliged to seek the shores of America. 
The present Avriter was arrested near Cashel, and 
suffered a short imprisonment ; so did a few other 
young men. One or two retired for a time to France ; 
and for the Cappoquin business a few peasants were 
transported. All thoughts of insurrection were now 
given up. The organization was vu'tuall}'- at an end ; 



332 



FE^fIAll HEEOES AJO) itAETYKS. 



and, in Decemljer '49 or Jamiary '50, its most pi'omi- 
nent member, James Fintoii Lalor, expired. 

" During several months, following tlie Cappoquin 
business, Gray lived a precarious life in Dublin, with- 
out proper means of subsistence, without any comfort- 
able place of rest. His health, already undermined 
by tlie hardships he had undergone in Waterford, 
began to be visibly impaired. lie still, however, en- 
deavored to rally the oi'ganization, and even carried it 
into new places in the County Dublin ; but it 
languished nevertheless, and at last wast formally dis- 
solved, some time in the year 1850. If it were proper 
to do so, I could give many amusing details connected 
with the progress of this singular organization. 

" Gray, after some time, procured a clerkship in the 
ofBce of a salesmaster of Smithfield. Here he re- 
mained for years, and won the confidence of his em- 
ployer by his rare zeal and integiity, and remarkable 
talents for business. * * * * But every day his 
health M'as becoming worse and worse. At length, on 
the moi-nirfg of Patrick's day, 1S55, he burst a blood- 
vessel, perhaps in consequence of a recent fall. The 
loss of blood was immense. After some time he was 
sufficiently recovered to go to the County Meath, 
where he spent a portion of the summer with some 
relations. Ue rallied so far, that on the establishment 
of the national journal called the Trthune, in the latter 
end of 1S55, he was able to accept a situation in the 
office of that paper. The death of the Tribune in the 
earl_y part af 1S50, threw poor Gray on the world once 
more. Yet so great was the force of his mind that, 



THOlfAS CLAEKE LUBY. 



333 



in such health and circumstances, he commenced 
attending lectures on Chemisti-y, at the Museum of 
Industry^ in Stephen's Green. With characteristic 
ardor he gave himself up to this new pursuit, body 
and soul. He twice, at the examinations, received a 
certificate for excellent answering. At intervals he 
returned to the office of his old employer, the sales- 
master. To the last he toiled beyond h's strengtli for 
his livelihood. Part of the summer he spent in Meath. 
lie suffered much, however, from poverty, and want 
of proper comfort and attention. In short, his appa- 
rent improvement was illusory. In January, 1857, 
liis life appeared rj,pidly approaching its close. On 
the 18th he received Extreme Unction, and on the 
night of the 25th of January, he breathed his last. 

" On Tuesday, the 27th, his brother, a prisoner of 
'48, and a few friends and associates, conveyed his 
remains by the Mullingar railway to the County 
Meath, to be there deposited in the burial-place of his 
fathers. His paternal uncle was hanged for rebellion 
in '98, and his mother belonged to the sept of the 
O'Carrols. 

" At the suggestion of some of the Irish exiles in 
Paris in 1849, who were desirous of diverting the 
attention of the police from Gray, in connection with 
any Irish movement, Devin Keitly published the fol- 
lowing aimouncement in his paper, the Feojple, printed 
in New York in the fore part of '49 : 

" ' Mr. Philip Gray, one of the Secretaries of the 
Swil't Confederate Club, who followed the fortunes 
of O'Mahony and Savage in Tipperary and Water- 



334 



FENIAN IIEKOES A2s'D JtAl^TYKS. 



ford, has arrived in tins conntry. lie was with 
Savage on tlie attack on Portlaw, in September, and 
afterwards made liis escape to France. He merely 
passed through this city, having, with much good 
sense, immediately started for the "West, hoping to 
make it his futm-e home. We understand that his 
actions were characterized by firmness and deter- 
mination, and his comrades reposed much confidence 
in him.' 

" This being copied into^the Tory papei^s in Ireland, 
had the desired effect; and Gray was the better able 
to make the exertion outlined above." ' 



• 



JOHN o'leart. 335 



JOKN" O'LEART. 

The Inspiration of Tippcrary— Homo Influences— O'Leary a Man of Means— 
At College— Goes to Fiance— To America Eetuvus to London and Ireland- 
Enthusiasm iu the Irish Cause— Spreading the Fenian Organization— n\e 
Irish Pei'pic—T]\e Sagacity with which it was Conducted- Arrested— In 
Court— The Trial— Speech iu the Dock— Seutence. 

Sentence having been passed on Thomas Clarke 
Lnby, the next selected for a mock trial and certain 
conviction was John O'Leary. The British Govern- 
ment, in its relentless persecution, has recognized his 
ability as an editor, and his fidelity as a patriot, and 
it has not undervalued him in either capacity. Those 
who knew him depict him as eminently a man of de- 
termination, whose mental constitution — " clear and 
brilliant, manly, sincere and truthful " — gave some 
idea of those souls " that i-endered the Rome of an- 
tiquity or the Sparta of Solon the wonder and glory 
of the world." 

The O'Leary sept are of Milesian descent, and have 
held territory for ages in the County Cork. It is a 
prominent name in L-ish history, and the family of 
our hero have been resident in the County Tipperary ; 
and in the town of the same name John O'Leary was 
born. In that county an active national spirit has al- 



336 FENIAN HEKOES AND 1LU1TYK3. 

waj-s been maintained. There are associations con- 
nected with that portion of Ireland which have served 
to cherish patriotism, to inspire the yonng mind, and 
confirm it in devotion to the sacred cause of inde- 
pendence. Situated on its lovely plains is the City of 
Cashel, whose ruins recall the ancient greatness of our 
ancestors— the story of the legal mm-der of Father 
Sheehy is current among the people— in '98 it expe- 
rieuced the ruthless tyranny of British officials. 

In addition we are told that " his home had its own 

' traditions of patriotism, and he should have been a false 

shoot of the old stock of Ms hearth, if his good heart 

and brain were not open to the example, teaching and 

stimulus of all he derived from birth and locahty." 

The enthusiasm which existed in Ireland in 1848, 
and preceding years, was shared by young O'Leary. 
The close of the '48 movement left Ireland in a state 
of disorganized hostility, and, until the formation of 
the Fentan Brotherhood, there was no extended or- 
ganization which could realize the patiiot's desire of 
its being the certain means of Ireland's regeneration. 
Left with ample means by his parents, Mr. O'Leary 
devoted himself to study. A naturally strong mind 
was refined and exalted by full culture. He looked 
toward a profession, and chose that of medicine. "With 
the purpose of fitting himself for it he went to Queen's 
College, Cork ; became distinguished, and after giving 
unmistakable evidence of the national passion which 
was taking possession ot him, he went to France. 
Wliether under imperial or republican rule, residence 
in Franco has never failed to confirm the modern pa- 



JOUN o'leary. 



337 



triot in Ms aspirations after freedom ; and all that 
O'Leary saw in that country only tended to make him 
more anti-British than before. 

It is not surprising, therefore, when ilr. O'Leary 
left France and extended his travels to the United 
States, that his whole soul was concentrated on 
thoughts of Irish liberty. He was warmly receis^ed 
by the veteran Irish patriots in this country, and was 
considered a valuable member of the " faithful and 
the few " who were then laying the foundation of an • 
oro-anization which has since extended itself from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, and has become the most 
formidable element, probably, against which England 
has ever had to contend. 

Mr. O'Leary became ardently attached to America 
and her republican institutions ; and the comparison 
between aflairs here and under the British Govern- 
ment, afi'orded him many a strong argument in favor 
of freedom when he returned and took up his resi- 
dence in London. A gentleman who kindly furnishes 
some interesting data for this sketch, says he can re- 
call "how ably in literary circles he could defend the 
national cause, and demonstrate Ireland's claim to in- 
dependence. One of the many errors which even 
liberal-minded Englishmen entertain respecting Ire- 
land is, that her naaterial progress is of most import- 
ance, in the hopes of accomplishing which, she should 
resign her aspirations after nationality and become 
absorbed with England. In these principles Mr. 
O'Leary could never acquiesce. ' Great, glorious and 
Jree^ was his ideal. He knew that as long as English 



333 



PESIAN SEfiOlilS ASD MAKTYR3. 



supremacy is maintained, Ireland cannot be materially 
or otherwise liappy, and that time cannot^ sanction in- 
justice. Both nations are too dissimilar in race ; tlio 
past cannot be forgotten; and experience proves that 
Ireland will never consent to be a British province. 

Another authority says: "He returned to Ireland 
and threw himself with great skill and great zeal into 
the work of extending the Fenian organization. Few 
men of any power of mind, of any patriotism, that he 
met, were they that were not made sympathizers with 
the cause to which he devoted himself aa to a sacred 
work. Keenly sagacious and unfailingly ^letermmed, 
beloved and respected, he escaped the Argus eyes of 
the police unbetraved, and became the very right hand 
man, it is said, of the attempt, according to Her Ma- 
jesty's Attorney-General, to subvert the thi-c::e and 
constitution in Ireland." 

^Yhen the Irish FeopUvtas, established, to be the 
organ of Fenianism, Stephens selected O'Leary as the 
conductor; and as an evidence of the far-sighted sa- 
gacity which controlled, not only O'Leary, but those 
having authority in the management of that journal, 
the following from the Shamrock vfiW be m place, 
especially to those who have not had an opportunity 
of reading the articles alluded to : " The most careful 
supervision was exercised" over its 'leaders' and over its 
letters ; for, whilst the ' leaders ' generally dealt with 
the principles admitted by the constitution of 1688, 
the letters dealt with Fenianism, with the hostility 
Avhich it met from priests and bishops, and in this way 
tried out the question by two modes, arguing the 



FENUil HEE0E3 AiTO MARTYiia. 



339 



cause of Fenianism, and spreading its principles in 
spite of the law. A remarkable testimony to the skill 
■with which this was done, is to be found in the cir- 
cumstance that the leading journal of high Catholic 
opinion in England used to quote the leaders of the 
Trish People, very frequently as the text and gospel 
of Irish politics, and several Irish daily journals, in- 
cluding the Mail, also took the same course. It is 
asserted, with what authority we know not, that many 
of the ' leaders ' were submitted to counsel prior to 
their appearance, and that no doubtful composition 
was ever suffered to be printed without being subject 
to that precaution." 

It is believed that, but for the information of the 
infamous Nagle, who described the People office as a 
sort of chief bivouac of the organization, the Govern- 
ment would not have convicted the writers for their 
contributions to the paper alone. As it is, however, 
no one connected with it has escaped penal servitude. 
. Mr. O'Leary was arrested at his residence, Palmer- 
ston Place. He was arraigned on the 1st December, 
while the jury on Luby's case were consulting. . On 
their return he was remanded, and brought to trial the 
next day. He was dressed, as usual, in dark clothes ; 
and as he advanced to the bar, every eye in court was 
turned towards him. The judges whispered their 
comments, whilst they noticed him curiously as he 
took his position in the dock of destiny. Every avail- 
able spale was filled with ladies, "fr'lends of the 
prisoner." His sister, by special request was permit- 
ted to sit by him in front of the dock, where she miglit 



340 



JOHN o'lEAHY. 



converse ^-ith liun. Being asked in the usual form- 
ality of British law, " Are you guilty or not guilty ? " 
he replied, " It is the Government of the country, the 
Cro^^^I prosecutors, the Barrys and Nagles Avho are 
guilty, and not L" They mquire, " Are you ready 
for trial?" He answers, "I must be ready— the 
Crown is ready I" and, accordingly, the trial pro- 
ceeds. Mr. Butt vainly seeks to have an impartial 
jury empanelled; the Attorney-General speaks for the 
Crown ; the informer Nagle, and the spy Schofield 
(sent there by the British Consul at New Yckrk,) gave 
then- evidence. Mi". Butt, in an able and argumenta- 
tive addi-ess, defends O'Leary. One incident alone of 
the trial will show the intensity of his devotion to the 
principles for which he was to suffer. During Mr. 
Butt's addi-ess he alluded to the Irish People news- 
paper m a manner which might be construed as 
■ speaking discreditably of it. Mr. O'Leary, interrupt- 
incr him, said he wished to make an observation. Mr. 
Butt zealous for the safety of his client, threatened if 
he did so to sit down. But O'Leary persisted, say- 



"Imustintemiptyou for a moment. I object to havmg it 
Elated that discreOU should be attached to me for my comiectioa 
with the Irish People, or to let it be supposed for a moment that 
1 consider it discreditable to have been connected with that 
paper." 

As Mr. Butt had no such intention, he continued 
his address, but Mr. O'Leary was ready to sacrifice the 
possible effect of that eminent counsel's speech, rather 



FENIAK HEKOES AOT) MAETTE3. 



341 



than have his associate's reputation apparently 
impugned. 

It appears that O'Leary was put upon his trial on 
Monday, ith October, before he had his breakfast, and 
one of his counsel said he was being starved. This 
was denied by the Crown, and the proceedings were 
suspended while the prisoner took some refreshment. 

On the 6th, the jury found the prisoner guilty on 
all the counts, and in reply to the usual question, 
O'Leary — his form dilating, and his manner animated 
to a tone of scathing and rebuke — said : 

" My Lords, I was not wholly unprepared for this. I felt that 
a Government who had so safely packed the- bench, would not be 
unlikely to obtain a verdict." 

3Ir. Justice Fitzgerald^" We are willing to hear yon, but wa 
cannot allow language of that kind to be used. " 

Prisoner — "Very well. Mr. Luby declined to touch upon this 
from a very natui'al fear that he might do harm to some of the 
other prisoners ; but there can be little fear of that now, for a jury 
that could be found to convict me of this conspiracy, (vill convict 
them all. Mr. Luby admitted that he was technically guilty 
according to that higlily elastic instrument, British law, but I did 
not think that those men there V (pointing to the Crown counsel,) 
" could make that case against me. And this brings me naturally 
to the subject upon which there has been much misrepresentation 
in Ireland — I mean^the subjecTof informers. Mr. Justice Keogh 
said in his charge against Mr. Luby that men would be found 
ready for money, or some other motive, to place themselves at the 
disposal of the Goverumeul and make luiown the designs of a con- 
spiracy. No doubt ; men will be alwa^'s found ready for money 
to place themselves at the disposal of the Goverameut, but I Uiink 
it is agitators, and not rebels, who have been generally bought in 
this way— who have certainly made the best bargains. I have to 



'Si-l^'.i&g^r.'.-in.'SPi'sr.'-^'ip: 



3J:2 



JOHN o'lE/UIY. 



say one word in reference to tlie foul charge upon which that 
miserable man, Bany, has made me responsible " — 

Mr. Justice Fitzgerald — " We caunot allow that tone of observa- 
tion." 

The Prisoner — " That man has charged me — I need not defend 
myself or my friends from the charge — I shall merely denounce 
the moral assassin. Mr. Justice Keogh the other day spoke of 
revolutions, and administered a lecture to Jlr. Luby. He spoke 
of cattle being driven away, and of houses being burnt down, that 
men would be killed, and so on. I should like to know if all that 
does not apply to war as well as to revolution ? One word more 
and I shall have done. I have been found guilty of treason, or of 
treason-felony. Ti'eason is a foul crime. The poet Dante con- 
signs traitors to, I believe, the ninth circle of Hell ; but what kind 
of traitors? Traitors against the King, against' country, against 
friends, and against benefactors. England is not my country. I 
have betrayed no friend, no benefactor. Sidney and Emmet were 
legal traitors. Jeffreys was a loyal man, so was Norhury. I leave 
the latter there." 

In the course of his homily to the prisoner, Judge 
Fitzgerald took occasion to remind him that a pci-son 
of his education and ability ought to have known that 
the game upon which he entered was a desperate and 
worthless one. 

The Prisoner — "Not worthless." 

Mr. Justice Fitzgerald — " You oiight to have known 
this, that insurrection or revolution in this coimtry 
meant not war only, but a war of extermination." 

The Prisoner^x-" It meant no such thing." 

He was then se itenced to twenty years penal servi- 
tude. He heard it with fortitude, nobly sustained by 
the sister who sat contemplating him with pride. 

O'Leary was President of the National Brotherhood 



FEmAN HEEOES AND MAETYR3. 



343 



of St. Patrick, established in the town of Tipperary. 
He was not at the time a permanent resident in the 
town, and the position was mainly honorary, conferred 
in recognition of his devotion to the National cause. 



lit 



JEKKMIAH o'dOSOVAJS (eOSSA), 



JEEEMIAH O'DONOVAN (ROSSA). 



Birtli aud Early Stiuggles — Goes to StiT)bereen— National Views of Eossa and 
M. Moynahan— Starts the Pha'nix Society — Its Character and Progress— Scares 
the Peace-Mongers— Revival Thvou;^bout Cork and Kerry— Members of the 
Society Arrested— Mr. O'SulIivan (Agrecm) Convicted— Cork Prisoners of- 
fered Liberty; but Pcfuse Unless Agrecm is Liber.Yed also — Rosfa Prevents 
Illumination for the Prince of Wales — Parades for the Poles— Cornea to New 
York — Returns -A Manager of the Irish people— ArieBtcd — Trial— Defends 
Himself— Defiance to the Court— Special Vengeance on Him— Harsh Sen- 
teucc— Cruel Treatment in Prison. 



A HOST passionately persistent organizer and worker 
out of jail, and an nnbendincr and defiant patriot in 
liis chains, is tlie man Avhose name heads this sketch. 
His career is calculated to encourage his countrymen, 
and to show what may be achieved by an earnest 
man. 

Born of humble parentage, in the ancient and his- 
toric town of Koscarbery, in the southern part of 
Cork, in the year 1S30, young O'Donovan had such 
opportunities for education as the village school 
afforded, £>A this, limited as it was, was cut short 
when about .sixteen years old, by the death of his 
father, who was a weaver. The boy went to Skib- 
bereen and became a member of the family of his 
uncle, where he remained, contributing to the support 
of his mother and his younger brothers and sisters 



FKNIAS UEEOES AND 1IAETYE3. 



345 



% 



•\ 



until he went into business for liimself. In 1849 au 
elder brother came to America, and in some three 
years was joined by all the family, save Jeremiah, 
who, proceeding on the route as .far as Cork, turned 
back, feeling that he could not and would not desert 
the old land. His heart yearned to her and the hopes 
of her fi-eedom, and he detemiined to watch and wait. 
This determination led to remarkable and widely his- 
torical results. 

O'Donovan married and settled to business. The 
efforts of July and September, 1848, had proved abor- 
tive, the little affair of Cappoquin, of the following 
year, was scarcely heard of, except by important na- 
tionalists ; the plans of Finton Lalor, Erenan and their 
comrades, as sketched by Luby, had come to nought ; 
the Keoghs and the Sadliers were rising on the ruins 
of the nationalists, when a few young men in Skib- 
bereen determined to stir up the embers of the nation- 
al cause and keep it alive, even if in a smouldering 
condition. Mr. Mortimer Moynahan, who had taught 
.school for five years in Glengariffe, took up his resi- 
dence in Skibbereen in 1856 ; and soon after his ar- 
rival O'Donovan and he, having ex-changed views on 
the matter, and being joined by some congenial spirits 
decided on organizing a Society. The Emmet Monu- 
ment Association was in being in America, and they 
thought they could perhaps put themselves in commu- 
nication with it, and be the means of interchanging 
views and helping the Irish cause on both sides of the 
Atlantic. Tlie Society thus formed in 1857, was os- 
tensibly a literary society, similar, in most respects, 



346 



JEEEinAn o'donovan (kossa). 



to those for nrntual instniction and debate wliicli are 
so common. Tlie name, "Phoenix National and Lit- 
erary Society," was suggested by O'Donovan, as he 
said they intended, to rise trora the ashes of apathetic 
pobtical hnekstering, which then covered the land. 
There was no oath, but the members took a pledo-e in- 
dicative of the object— the resuscitation, ever so 
slowly, of national life in Ireland. The meetings 
M-ere duly held, and the Phoenix Society spread itself 
rapidly into the adjacent towns. It had considerable 
antagonists to encounter, as it met no fayor from the 
clergy, whom it did not court; nor from the political 
agitators, whom it condemned ; nor from the traders 
who regarded it as a band of disturbers ; nor from the 
farmers, "who thought of little save high prices." 
Its local repute was that of persons holding extreme 
radical views on Irish questions; and this was brought 
mto still wider notice by a meeting held in 1858— at 
the time of the Indian meeting— at which resolutions 
and an inflammatory address were passed. " On the 
publication of these documents," wi-ites Mr. Moyna- 
han, " the little shoncen shop keepers banned us as a 
lot of firebrands, and threatened with dismissal such 
of their employes as would any longer continue to be 
members of the Society. For these reasons the Socie- 
ty dwindled down to a few members, when Stephens 
made his appearance. He had some time before that 
come from France, had been teaching French in Kil- 
larney and elsewhere, and had commenced organizin<^ 
a secret Society." Stephens arrived on a Thursday 
O'Donovan was initiated on the next day, and Moy- 



FENIAIT HEROES AlTD MAETTRS. 



34T 



nahnn on the day following. Thence the flame spread, 
and before six weelvs the new organization numbered 
between two and three hundred, all Phoenix men. 

In a short time it was pushed into Bantry, Een- 
mare, Killarney, Castletown, Borehaven, Dunmanna- 
way, Clonakilty, and Macroom by the Skibbereen 
men, and into Kinsale and Cork by equally energetic 
. brotliers. Moynahan, who was connected with a so- 
licitor, and used to accompany him to the Sessions and 
Assizes, took these occasions for propagating the order, 
which he did as far off as Kilorglin in Kerry ; while 
O'Donovan worked with great energy about Skibbe- 
reen and Roscarbery, 

They progressed so rapidly in numbers and spirit 
that an Irish- American was sent to give them military 
instruction. Their drilling became known, and the 
authorities, becoming apprehensive of trouble, sent an 
additional force of 105 men to Skibbereen, 60 to 
Bantry, and a considerable number to Kenmare. The 
attention thus given to the Phoenix Society, as it was 
still called, attracted the inquiry of some journalists; 
and a discussion ensued which, drew lettei-s from 
O'Donovan and others, which, of course, tended to 
keep up the excitement. 

Meanwhile a clergyman of Kenmare, who had got 
possession of some facts relating to the society, con- 
veyed the same to the Government ; as a consequence, 
the Government made a descent on the Society, and 
on the morning of the 8th December, 1858, twelve 
persons wove arrested in Skibbereen, four in Bantry, 
twelve in Kenmare, and three in Killarney. After 



348 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAnTYES. 



being confined for some weeks, several of the Cork 
IJrisoners were discliai-ged, but true bills were found 
against Mortimer jSIoynaltan, "William O'Shea, Denis 
Sullivan, ]i[ortinier Downing, Daniel McCartie, Jere- 
miah O'Donovan (Rossa), and Patrick Downing, for 
treason-felony. An immediate trial was sought for 
tlicm, by counsel, but, on motion of the Attorney- 
General, it was postponed to the next Assizes. An 
application to be admitted to bail was referred to the 
Queen's Bench, and failed. At the Tralee Assizes Mr. 
Daniel O'Sullivan (Agreem) M-as convicted by a packed 
jury, and thus became the first victim of the new 
national organization. Again the Cork prisoners un- 
successfully applied to the Queen's Bench for release 
on bail ; and about the same time a proposition was 
made by the Crown counsel to the counsel for the 
piisoners, that if the latter would withdraw their first 
plea, and plead guilty, tliey would be liberated. This 
Rossa and his comrades declined. The Government 
then approached them with another proposition — that 
if Rossa and Moynahan consented to leave the conn- 
try, the others would be liberated. On consultation 
the prisoners agreed to enter into no compromise with 
the Government. A few mornings subsequently, some 
further liberations took place, and Rossa, Moynahan, 
and O'Shea, were all the " Pho2nix men " who re- 
mained in Cork jail. After keeping them in prison 
for eight months, the Government found it could not 
convict them; and finally Rossa and his associates 
a'l-reed to plead guilty and be liberated, ^vith the un- 
derstanding that O'Sullivan, who had been convicted, 
should also be set free. 



JEEEMIAH o'DONOVAN (bOSSA).. 349- 

Pvossar-aa he was now called— had a positive influ- 
ence over the men of his neighborhood. His course 
on the marriage of the Prince of Wales illustrates it 
Some of the " gentry " of Skibbereen had determined 
to honor the great event in the life of the heir-apparent, 
and several of a club, of which Rossa was a member, 
illuminated the club-room. On hearing it, he went to 
the house and called a meeting of the club to protest 
against the celebration ; but as none others attended 
it he decided that the illumination was contrary to 
the wi-h of the members, and immediately tore down 
the fla-s and banners. By this time, others of the 
members interfered. He, however, nothing daunted, 
carried out his object, and prevented the celebration. 
The people, hearing of the occurrence, ralhed to his 
aid, ahd a grand meeting was called, which he ad- 
dres=ed to their satisfaction. 

At the time of the Polish insurrection, too, he 
headed a meeting and procession in honor of that 
noble race; and, having obtained some banners, they 
paraded the streets of the town. Some of the banners 
Leinc national in their design, the police interfered, 
nnd'all save one were obliged to be dispensed with. 
This one was a puzzle to the police; it being three- 
cornered, and having no device, they were allowed to 
use it, and thus carried out their intentions despite 
oRDOsition. 

Scarcely a week passed that there was not some 
attempt made to injure Pu)ssa in his business ; but he 
would not be crushed-petty persecution could oi ly 
intensify his hate of the power that suggested it. i he 



350 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETYE3. 



struggle, however, was an unequal one. In 1862 he 
came to New York, but in a few months was recalled 
to Ireland by the death of his wife. 

Of course, his relations with Stephens, Luby, and 
the other chief men, were resumed, and on the start- 
ing of the Irish People he became one of the regis- 
tered proprietors. He was one of the first captured, 
and was brought to trial at the Dublin Commission 
on the 9th December, 1865. On the next morning, 
Eossa interrupted the Court to say that, as he be- 
lieved the Crown was determined to con%'ict him, his 
trial was a legal farce, and that he would not be a 
party to it by being re23resented by counsel. He 
could not be prevailed on to accept legal advice, but 
conducted his own defence, which led to some extra- 
ordinary scenes in Court, and some bitter passages 
between the prisoner and Judge Keogh. The more 
the latter hemmed himself within the walls of privi- 
lege, the more O'Donovan was defiant, or satirical, 
as the occasion suggested. He persisted in badgering 
the Court and ministers, and in thoroughly exploding 
the legal farce. As he said in reply to Judge Fitz- 
gerald, " Twenty yeai-s " (the term of servitude given 
to his associates) " is a long time, and I want to spend 
a couple of days as best I can." 

At the opening of the Court on the 12th — the third 
day — when again put forward and called upon for his 
defence, Rossa asked if he could have the privilege of 
addressing the jury on the evidence produced against 
him by the Crown. Judge Keogh read the act of 
Parliament for liim, by wliich lie was entitled to open 



JEEEMIAH o'dONOVAH (kOSSA). 



351 



his own case ; and, if he called any witnesses for his 
defence, to sum up after, or speak to evidence. 

The prisoner then spoke at considerable length, though not in ft 
direct or consecutive manner, animadverting on the harshness of 
the Government towards him. Referring to the jury, he said : The 
Attomey-Ocneral has ordered thirty gentlemen to stand by, and 
no doubt he considered the present jury persons who would bnng 
in the verdict he wished. That observation might not be com- 
plimentary to the jury, but he could not help It The Executive 
Government had taken harsh measures against the pinsoners-had 
violated all law, and had had recourse to dark courses of despot- 
ism If trial by jury prevented a man from saying that freedom 
mi-ht be fought for, it was a mere bulwark of tyranny. The 
preliminaries had been, he contended, so arranged as to deny him 
a fair trial. The papers had published articles condemnmg all the 
prisoners before they were tried. He admitted he had proceeded 
to America under the name of O'Donnell, but it was on mercantile 
business; that name he had assumed in order to prevent his 
political friends there from showering welcoming receptions upon 
him Ho returned not as O'Donnell, but in his proper name as 
O'Donovan. The only crime he had committed was that he had 
known James Stephens, John O'Mahony, J. O'Leary, and Luby. 
He was proud to know them. He wished the reporters to take 
down that in the register of the United States Government of the 
2Vth of Au'nast, 1863, his oath of American citizenship would bo 
found recorded. After a violent al.tack on Judge Keog\ the 
prisoner said, whatever might be the result of this trial, he enter- 
taincd no animosity against any person, from Nagle, the informer, 
to Mr Bariy, or the judges on the bench. He thought it would 
do good in England to show the sort of trial we had m this coun- 
try If there was any gentleman belonging to the Continental 
prc'ss in Court, he hoped he would take down the words of the 
London Times of the Ulh of November : " Treason is a serious 
thi.!- and these men are undoubtedly guUty of it." The rcadmg 
of papers and documents by tlie prisoner at this stage, occupiel 



352 



PE-.n-iN HEROES AKB MA11TYK9. 



above two hours. Judge Kcogli tlicn refused to allow him to pro- 
ceed with the reading of an affidavit -svhich had been sworn in the 
course of the action agamst the Lord-Lieutenant, on the ground 
that the public time could not be frittered away, whereupon 
O'Donovan exclaimed, " The time of the public has been given to 
try me." The foreman of the jury also asked that the prisoner 
should mark the documents for theh consideration, and not read 
them ; but he answered that he had laid do-wn a course for him- 
self, in consequence of the way in which he had been treated since 
he had been sent to prison, which he could not depart from. He 
then read nearly a hundred pages of small print, referring to the 
Constitution, organization, and proceedings of the Chicago Con- 
vention ; as to which. Judge Keogh said, when the prisoner had 
concluded : " It is scarcely necessary to remark toi the public 
liress the grave re^onsibility that would attach to the publication 
of the document which the prisoner has read, under the pretext 
that it would form a necessaiy portion of his defence." The pri- 
soner said his oliject in reading the document was to show that 
there was nothing m the Chicago Convention documents refeiring 
■ to him. He afterwards i-ead several articles from the Irish Peo- 
ple, and at six o'clock in the evening was still continuing his 
readings, without any appearance of weariness. At this hour the 
judges directed that their own dinners, and those of the jurymen 
should be brought down to Court; and it was understood that the 
silling would be a hie one, in order that, if possible, the prisoner 
should fmish his first speech that night. The prisoner asked if 
the Court would not adjourn as usual, as he had now been reading 
for several hours, and was wearied out. The only answer he 
received, was, to proceed with his defence. lie then offered to 
read some passages from the Irish People, but Judge Keogh 
would not permit him to read anything that was not specified in 
til ■ indictment. He had' announced his intention to examine a 
wilness to show than his visit to America was in reference to com- 
mercial matters; but after some fm-ther reading of the documents 
before him, he annciunced that he could proceed no fuvllier willi- 
ont the papers kept back by tlie Crown. He then sat down, hav- 
ing occupied nearly eight hours in reading. 



jEREinAn o'donovan (eossa). 353 

On the next day, Judge Keogh charged the Jury, which, atlcr 
being out for an hour and ten minutes, returned a verdict of 
" Guilty on all the counts," 

Before sentence was pronounced, the Attorney- General thought 
it his duty to mention, with a view to havmg it entered on the 
record, that the prisoner was indicted for a similar offence in July, 
1859— an indictment for treason-felony. " On that occasion, he 
first pleaded not guilty, but subsequently pleaded guilty. The 
clemency of the Crown was extended to him then, he entermg 
into recognizances to appear when called on. He would call 
upon the Clerk of the Crown to enter the former conviction upon 
the record." 

Judge Keogh—" Has the prisoner anything to say with refer- 
ence to pleading guilty to this previous charge ? " 

The Prisoner—" I have to say this, that I believe on that occa- 
sion Mr. "Whiteside, who was a member of the Derby Govern- 
ment, intimated that we would be let off if we pleaded guilty ; 
but we would not do anything of the kind. The Government 
then offered to let Daniel O'Sullivan (Agreem) off if we pleaded 
guilty. We refused to do so at first, but afterwards consented. 
You may add anything you please to the sentence you are about 
to pass upon me. " 

The judges here retu-ed from the bench to consider their sen- 
tence, and, during their absence. Miss O'Leary stretched her hand 
do^TO from the reporters' gallery to take a last farewell of the 
prisoner. He caught he hand and shook it warmly. 

On the return of the judges, the prisoner wis asked if he had 
anything to say why judgment should not be passed upon him. 

He replied—" With the fact that the Government seized papera 
connected wi'h my defence, and perhaps examined them ; with 
the fact that the Government packed the jury ; and with the fact 
that the jury said yesterday that they considered me " — 

The Court — "We cannot allow this language." 

Tlie Prisoner— " With the fact that the Government sent Judge 
Keogh, of the Norbury breed, to try me— with these facts before 
me, I could not say any tiling." 



354 



FENIAN IlEKOKS AND JIAKTYBS. 



" You liave l)ccn connected with this transaction since 1803," 
said Keogh. 

" I am an Iriflnnau since I was born," replied Kossa. 

" I will not waste words by attempting to bring the heinonsness 
of the crime of which you were found guilty, to your mind," con- 
tinued Keogh. 

"It would be useless to try," tauntingly said the prisoner. 

The wrathful and goaded Judge sentenced his victim to Penal 
Servitude for Life. 

"All right," he exclaimed, defiantly; and, turning to leave the 
docK, saluted a number of ladies. 

The same defiant and resolute spifit has accompa- 
nied the sturdy patriot into prison. The authorities 
have labored, by putting him at the most loathsome 
duties, and by treatment of the harshest kind ; by 
bodily chastisement, and the starvation system known 
as the " liglitening process," to break him do%vn ; but 
he is indomitable, and will only succumb to death. 

Of the Phcenix prisoners who have adhered to the 
old cause, or won distinction since, a few paragraphs 
will not be out of place. William O'Shea, a native 
of Bantry, came to the United States after his release, 
and put himself in communication with the leading 
nationalists. He became one of a Committee of Safe- 
ty which was in being in the earlier days of the Or- 
ganization. On the breaking out of the civil war 
O'Shea entered the 42d regiment, N. Y. V., as a pri- 
vate. He saved himself at the Ball's Bluff disaster 
by swinmiing across the ri\'cr, and was promoted for 
his gallantry on that day. lie served the usual time, 
and, re-entering the army, shared in many of the 



JEREMIAH o'duNOVAN (UOSSA). 



355 



great battles of the anny of the Potomac. A capital 
instance of Captain O'Shea's native humor in the 
midst of danger, is told by his brother officers. 
Wliile his company was repairing one of the broken 
bridges over the Chickahominy, one of McClellan's 
aids rode furiously up and asked : 

"Who commands here ?" 

"I^-I — I do," said the Captain, who stuttered 
much. 

" I want to know, sir, can artillery pass over ?" • 

"Ye — ye — ^yes — if they are fly — fly — flying — ar — 
til — til — lery," said O'Shea, casting a look of droll 
perplexity at the bridge. O'Shea mot a soldier's death 
at the Wilderness. 

Wlien Mortimer Moynahan was released he found 
that all the aristocrats of West Carbery regarded him 
as a disturber, he therefore turned his face towards 
Cork, where he became associated in the same law 
' oflice with Brian Dillon, one of the first Centres of that 
city. He retm'ued to Skibbereen in 1860, married 
in the following year, and was soon Centre of that 
town. Being in Dublin in 1SC5, he was arrested on 
the night of the seizure of the IrisJi People. The in- 
formations sworn against him by the detectives were 
false, he being confounded with his brother, who was 
an employee of tliat journal. Mr. ]\[. ]\Ioynahan 
made an affidavit in the court of Queen's Bench to 
the facts and M'as admitted to bail. He was next ap- 
iwinted by the chief organizer "Intermedium" for 
the county and city of Cork. After the suspension 
of tlio hahcas corpus act he was sent, with three others, 



356 



FEl^TAN HEROES AOT) SUKTTRg. 



to London on the business of the Organization, 
whence lie was sent to Paris, where he was perma- 
nently detailed by Stephens, and remained for threa 
months ; after which he came to America. 

Patrick J. Downing, a native of Skibbereen, was 
one of those against whom true bills were found for 
connection with the " Phcenix Conspiracy." He was 
held to bail; and, after the dischai-ge of Eossa, he went 
to Palis to Stephens, around whom then all the young 
revolutionists gathered. Soon after Downing came 
to America as the agent of Stephens, and became 
engaged in the "Phoenix" journal. He wcmt to the 
Avar with a commission in the 42d regiment, N. Y. V. 
"Was wounded badly several times, and received 
merited promotion. Colonel Downing was subse- 
quently Adjutant-General, and afterwards Acting Sec- 
retary for Civil Affairs of the F. B. 

Denis J. Downing, brother of the last named, is 
also a native of Skibbereen, and was the youngest of 
the Phoenix prisoners. Shortly after his release he 
came to the United States. On the breaking out of 
the war he went to the fi-ont as second lieutenant of 
tho 42d regiment N. Y. V. He retired from that 
regiment after the battle of Big Bethel, and entered 
the 97th as sergeant-major. He took part in most of 
the battles of the army of the Potomac and steadily 
rose. At Gettysburg he was lieutenant commanding 
his company, and fell desperately womided. To save 
his life the amputation of a leg was necessary. For 
gallantry here he was commissioned, and when able to 
be about he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve 



JERESnAH o'dONOVAIT (rOSSA). 



357 



Coqis, and after a searching examination appoint- 
ed Captain, and successively breveted Major and Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel of Volunteers for his conduct in the 
field. When the V. R. C. was dissolved, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Downing received a commission in the regu- 
lar army as First Lieutenant, 44:th regiment infantry. 



35S 



FEXIAN HEKOES AND MAKTVKS. 



CHARLES JOSEPH KICKHAM. 

His Family— Sad Accident when a Bor -A Student— His Love of Rnral Sports 
—In the Cabins of the Poor— Forms a Club In '48— Literature— EBpouses 
Keogh's and Sadlier's Teriant-Eight Part}'— Treachery of the Leaders— Litera- 
ture Again— Becomes a Fenian— Arrest— Trial— Defends Himself— Speech in 
the Dock— Sentence— Cruel Treatment in Prison. 



In Ms gentleness and force, in his talents and devo- 
tion as a practical Catholic, in his patriotism and pu- 
rity, Charles J. Kickham bears a strong resemblance 
to Richard D'Alton Williams, the poet, well and 
Avidety known by his 7wm de plwine of Shamrock, and 
equally distinguished by being one of the young Ire- 
land patriot-martyrs of '48. They were likcAvise Tip- 
perary men, and do honor to that noble county. 

The more recent transactions in which Kickham 
was concerned have l)ecome a part of the history of 
our day. For the facts embracing the earlier portion 
of his career, we are indebted to one of his associates, 
Captain D. P. Conyngham. * Cliarles J. Kickham 
was born about tliirty-eight years ago, in the small vil- 
lage of Mullinalione, which lies almost beneath the 
shelter of Slievenamon, wliose picturesque beauty he 
lias interwoven into some of liis best poems. He 
sprang from a respectable and patriotic stock. His 

•Author of " The Irish Brigade and its Campaji^s/' " Sherman's March," etc. 



CIIAltLi;8 JOSEPH KrcKIIAM. 



359 



father, Jolin Kiclvliam, was a wealthy flrajjer, and tlio 
leading man of tlie village, a patriot and a phllantliro- 
pist. TTe gave unto liiindi-edfi who were evicted from 
their little farms, not only clothes from his store, but 
also money to enable them to emigrate to America; 
and to their credit bo it said, they gratefidly returned 
it as soon as earned. Many a farmer, Avho to-day en- 
joys peace and plenty in happy homesteads in Amer- 
ica, blesses his memory. 

His mother was an O'Mahony, and in every sense a 
lady, refined and charitable. Two of his uncles and 
several of his relatives were eminent divines. Sprung 
from such a family, and reared amid such associations, 
Charles Xickham grew up with unsullied principles 
and a mind as pure as the gentlest maiden. Jlia 
fatlicr, a man of education, sound judgment and keen 
penetration, saw that his son possessed the germs of a 
fine mind, and resolved to spare no labor or expense 
to polish the diamond. lie engaged a competent 
tutor for that purpose. The boy progressed rapidly, 
but an unfortunate occurrence blighted his hopes when 
about thirteen years of age: the explosion of a pow- 
der flask brought the boy to the verge of the grave. 
He slowly recovei-cd, however, but remained deaf and 
near-sighted ever after. He could not now avail hlm- 
Belf of tlie instructions of a teacher, so ho retired 
within himself, and became a great reader and thinker. 
When only a boy of eighteen ho contributed some 
beautiful pieces to the press. 

"He was passionately foud of fishing and fowling. 
SornetimcB you would meet him along the banks of 



3G0 



FEXIA2J HEEOES AND MAETYES. 



King's River, a stream near liis neighboring town, or 
■wandering along tlie beautiful Anner, that flows be- 
side SUevenamon. At other times yo\T might meet 
him with a double-barreled gun in his hand, or flung 
on his shoulder, with Fan, the terrier, and a pointer 
for his companions, wandering over the moors or along 
the mountains, in search of game. He and his liaunts 
were so well known, that the little children crowded 
the cabin doors on the day he was expected, looking 
out for Mmter Charles; for he had a kind word for 
all, and divided his spoils with them, and had slunxor 
chus with the old women in the corner, and smoked 
the dudheen with the old man, and talked of '98, of 
the Croppies and the Teos, of the pitch-caps and the 
triangles, of the wholesale exterminations and starva- 
tion of the peasantiypf the present time, until his 
honest blood coursed his veins in fiery streams, and 
the tear moistened his eye, and the hope of revenge 
gave a fierce expression to his kind and noble face. 
He delighted very much in manly exercises, and keen- 
ly enjoyed the hurling and the dance upon the green, 
and made these rural customs the subject of some of 
his descriptive tales." 

Though his society was courted by the wealthiest, 
it was in the poor man's shelling, or enjoying the 
merry dance and hurling-matches of the peasantiy, he 
was most at home. The honest peasant who mounred 
the wrongs of his country and yearned for its freedom 
— who toiled hard for his daily bread — was, in his 
opinion, far nobler than the sleek slave who, because 
he had enough liimseLf, closed his eyes to the sulfer- 
ings around him, and felt happy. 



CHAKL12S JOSEPH KICKHAil. 



361 



Although scarcely twenty years of age in '48, he 
was an active nationalist, and in conjunction with 
some congenial spirits organized a club in Mullina- 
hone. Having fallen under suspicion, he sufi'ered 
some inconvenience for a short time. He then re- 
turned to his old sports, and to literature, writing fii- 
gitive pieces for the periodicals. Soon after Keogh 
and Sadlier organized an independent opposition par- 
ty — a Tenant-right party— pledged to oppose every 
government that would not do justice to Ireland, 
Keogh, in making his pledge, raised h's hands and 
eyes to Heaven, exclaiming—"! pledge myself, so 
help me God !" What became of all these promises 
and violated oaths we know too weU. 

"Wlien the treachery and rottenness of the Keogh 
and Sadlier party became apparent, the Tipperary 
Leader became the great organ of the people in smash- 
ing up tlieir perjured clique ; and Kickham, Father 
Kenyon and Father John Power M-ere among its ablest 
contributors. 

Keogh became a justice of the Common Pleas, and 
in time Kickham was arraigned as a felon and a traitor 
before the perjured judge, ^v\\o, if there was any trea- 
son in the act wliich brought him there, was the man 
who taught him that very treason. 

Disgusted \\{t\\ the treachery of his leaders, Kick- 
ham again retired M'ithin Iiimself— to Avrite tflles and 
put the feelings of the people into vigorous verse. 
Wlien Doctor Cane of Kilkenny started the Celt, 
Kickham at once became a contributor, wi-iting 
sketches, talcs, essays, and poems. ^ Of the latter, his 



362 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAKTYE9. 



" Kory of the Ilill " appeared in this periodical.^ Al- 
though Kickliain had vowed to eschew politics in fu- 
ture, he became a convert to Stephens' views; and 
■svhen John O'Mahony visited Ireland he initiated one 
man, and that was our poet, who at once threw him- 
self with the devotion ot his nature into the organi- 
zation, and was mainly instrumental in sowing the 
seeds of Fenianism over Tipperary. He paid a visit to 
the United States in 1803, and was present at the First 
National Congress of the Brotherhood at Chicago. 
On his return home he became a leijding writer for 
the Irish Feoj)le; and on Stephens' visit to America 
during the war, he was designated (without his know- 
ledge)' one of the three executive council to manage 
affairs in his absence. Kickham was captured at the 
time of Stephens' arrest, and brought to trial in Dub- 
lin at the re-sitting of the S])ecial Commission, 5th 
January, 1867. At its commencement, his defence 
was conducted by counsel ; but on the refusal, by the 
judges, of his application to have Thomas Clarke 
Luby produced as a witness, he declared the trial was 
a mockery, and refused to have any further legal as- 
sistance. He addressed the jury in his own defence, 
and made a lengthy and clever speech, one which bore 
the impress, not only of talent, but of truthfulness in 
every part, and which certainly tended to place his 
conduct in a more innocent light than that in which it 
was represented by the Crown lawyers. 

lie said that a person unaccustomed as he was to public speak- 
ing, could hardly get out his ideas at all without preparation, and 
Ue'hadhadno time.* However, he had no objection to go on. 



FEKIAN UEKOES AND SLAETYKS. 



363 



No prisoner had ever been treated more Unfairly than he was. 
Not only had he to bear his share of calumny, but from the com- 
mencement of tlie Commission, in every speech made by counsel 
for the Crown, his name was dragged in, and not alone that, but 
even tlie judges on the bench did it. lie could not but feel a little 
surprised wlien one of the judges read out llie names from the 
" Executive document "—Luby, O'Leary, and Kicl<ham— and said 
he shuddered at the crimes these men would commit if they had 
the power. He could not help thinl^ing that his lordship should 
have recollected that theie was one of these men who was not yet 
tried, and who might be innocent of even knowing the existence 
of this document. So that he (prisoner) consideied he had been 
tried and found guilty five times in that Co'irt House, and he did 
not know how many times in Cork. He would now go through 
the articles in the indictment, but would not read them all. The 
first article was one headed "'82 and '29." If they took the 
trouble of reading tliiough that article, they would be at a loss to 
see why it was that so long an article, with so little treason in it, 
should have the place of honor. They might not agiee with the 
writer, but it was, nevertlieless, true what he said, that it would 
have been well for Ireland that the claims of the loyal Volunteers 
of '82 had been iHifused, for the result would have been complete 
independence. And let them look back upon the histoiy of this, 
country — not a gleam of sunshine— the sufferings of the people, 
and the exodus. What Irishman could look upon the eighty -four 
years wliich had passed and would not say, "Give us our coun- 
tiy for ourselves, and, in God's name, let us see what we can do 
with it." These armed volunteers ti-amplcd on the Treason-Felo- 
ny Act. So mudi for '83. Tliere ^vas not much treason in that. 
Perhaps it was in the '29 jjart of the article the treason was. The 
purpoj-t of tliat portion was, that if the Englisli Government refused 
emancipation, the Roman Cal holies would have taken up arms, 
and tliat tlie liberal Piotestants would have joined them. The 
Bulce of Wellington said the same thing, and he must say that a 
bisliop in America was so oblivious of his allegiance as to organize 
forty thousand armed Fenians, to send them to Ireland, if tlio 
Govemment refused emancipation. There was one good thing 



364 



CHAELES JOSEI'U lacKHAJf. 



Ibat the Fenians did. He said that concessions to Ireland had 
liecu always Ihe result of Fcniauism iu some shape or other; the 
English Governmeut, however, while making concessions, always 
expected to get something hi return ; and, he helieved, they had 
never heen disappointed. Not only had they stipulated upon 
getting prompt payment, hut, also, they got a large instalment in 
advance. And here he could not help referring to the publication 
of Sir John Gray's affidavit, which he stated he withheld, afraid it 
would uijure the prisoners on their trial, and yet that very affida- 
vit was published on the eve of his trial. To return to the article 
" '82 and '29," he repeated, they would find very little treason in. 
it. Why, then, had it been placed on the front of the indictment? 
That was done for a passage in it referring to Eomau Catholic 
judges, and Roman Catholic placemen, m which it, was said, 
"The Catholic judge will prove as iniquitous a tool of tyranny, as 
the most bigotted Orange partisan would be." It would not do 
for the Attorney-General to select articles in which one of the 
judges was mentioned by name in the severest language. That 
would be going too far. Judge Keogh said he had never seen a 
copy of the Irish People, and he believed that if his lordship had 
seen these articles, he would have tried to avoid sitting in judg- 
mSit on the men who were accused of being the wiilers of thein. 
But the Attorney-General knew of thenr, and he believed that 
the articles he alluded to had been placed in the front for the pur- 
pose of prejudicmg Roman Catholic judges against the prisoners 
they would have to try ; and the Special Commission was ap- 
pomtcd— if that was the word— for the sole purpose of enabling 
them to select the judges, and that it was the best mode of follow- 
ing up the attempt to put down the organization, by trampling on 
the law, and then following that up by trampling on the law of 
morality and decency. If it were necessary to interrupt him, Mr. 
Lawless would communicate their lordships' wishes to him. 
Justice Keogh—" Not at all. Proceed. " 
The Prisoner went on to say tliat the jury might be told that all 
this was beside the question. But he denied this. He said the 
Government was on its trial, and not alone the Irish Government, 
but Enc-lish rule in Ireland was on its trial. The Government 



FENIAN HEK0E9 AND MARTTE8. 



365 



admitted the existence of a wide-spread conspiracy, both in Ire- 
land and America ; but this only showed that the treatment of 
England towards Ireland had been judged and condemned. After 
a number of observations of an exculpatory character, he quoted 
Thomas Davis : 

" The tribune's tongnc and poet's pen « 
May sow the seed in slavish men, 
But 'tis the soldier's sword alone 
Can reap the harvest when 'tia sown. 

"The man who wrote those lines, did his best to make the 
Ii'ish people a military people. A few years before his death his 
friends observed in his library a number of military books, such as 
those formd in the office of the Irish People, and he would say, 
' These are what Irishmen want— this is what they should learn.' 
His statue, by Hogan, is now in Mount Jerome. The whole 
nation mourned his death, and all creeds and classes gathered 
round his grave. Thomas Davis saw the peasants' cabins pulled 
down by the landlords, and witnessed the suffering of the people, 
and he wrote — 

" ' God of justice 1 ' I said, ' send yonr spirit dovm 
On those lords so crael and proud, 
And soften their hearts, and relax theirfrown, 

Or else,' 1 cried alond— 
' Vouchsafe your strength to the peasant's hand. 
To drive them at length from off the land.' " ^. 

The prisoner concluded by saying, " "What did the Irish Peo- 
ple say worse than that ? I have done no more than he has 
done ; doom me to a felon's doom if you choose." 

The charge of Judge Keogh -^vas considered not 
unfavorable to the prisoner. The jury, however, 
brought in a verdict of " Guilty on all the counts." 

Sotue one near Ivickham intimates this to him by 
some look or sign, and he knows that his time is coma 



■SSf.-Vi.-iW' 



366 



CnAELES JOSEI'U KICKUAJI. 



to spealv ngain, if he chooses to do so. Stepping to 
the front of the dock, at first stooping slightly 
over the iron bar, and then raising himself to his full 
height, he says — 

" Perhaps, .my lord, I have said enough akcady. I ^^^ll only 
add that I believe I have done nothing hut my duty. I have en- 
deavored to serve Ireland, and now I am prepared to suffer for 
Ireland." 

The sentence was that he he kept in penal servitude 
for a term of fourteen years. Great commiseration 
(said the Nation) for Mr. Kickham, was felj during 
the progress of the trial, which was, throughout, a 
" painful scene. His deafoess and his defective sight 
caused him to he almost unconscious of a great por- 
tion of the proceedings ; hut the most material points 
were communicated to him through the india-rubber 
speaking tube which he wore about his neck. During 
his trial one could not help being forcibly reminded 
of one of the verses occurring in his clever and popu- 
lar ballad, named " Patrick Sheehan "— 

" O, Blessed Virgin Mary, 

Jline is a mournful tale, 
A poor hlind prisoner here I am 

In Dublin's dreary jail ; 
Slruck hlind Tvilhin the trenches 

Where I never feared the foe ; 
And now I'll never see again 

3Iy own sweet Aherlow." 

We read lately of a good old priest, who was found 
weeping over one of Kickham's graphic pictures of 



FEJTIAN HEROES KSD MAKTTK9. 



367 



peasant sufferings, and, when asked what was the 
matter, replied, " Kead that, and when you reflect 
that the man who wrote it is pining in a dungeon 
to-day, instead of being idolized by^all classes, is it 
not enough to make any man weep ? " 

Mr. Kickham has suffered what has been termed a 
process of "slow and savage torture" since his incar- 
ceration. His pure, gentle, and loving nature, has 
been subjected not only to indignity, but to such 
treatment as should make any civilized nation bow its 
head in shame. After spending a few weeks m 
Mountjoy Prison, where he was treated with compara- 
tive generosity, he was removed to PentonviUe, and_ 
handed over to the tender mercies of Enghsh officials. 
Here, the invalid prisoner was subjected to the soli- 
tary 'discipline and starvation allowance, until he 
• "was riddled over with scrofulous ulcers, and reduced 
to a skeleton. He is then sent to Portland for change 
of air, where, by way of healthful recreation, he is 
ordered into the wash-house to cleanse the foul gar- 
ments of England's vilest criminals. But his brave 
■ soul can no longer support his famished body. He 
sickens almost to death, is tried in the quarnes,^ and 
then sent off to the invalid station at Woking. 
When last heard from, he was being killed by inches. 



36S 



DE^'I& DOWLES-G JIULCAHY. 



DEMS DOWLIXG MULCAHT. 

Son of a Patriotic Farmer— Fenian Proragandist—StndieB Medicine— His Fine 
Appearance — Arretted — Trial— Speech in the Doclc — Colloquy with the 
Judge— Guilty— Sentence— Sufferings in Prieon — Writ of Error. 

This gentleman, -whose indefatigable services J;o the 
Fenian cause were sworn to on the trials of his friends, 
Luby, Kickham, and others, as well as on his own, is 
yet under thirty-five years of age. The son of a re- 
spectable farmer in the parish of Powerstown, near 
Clonmel, County of Tipperary, who was a sturdy 
nationalist in the days of O'Connell, and subsequently 
an adherent of the Young Ireland doctrines, young 
Denis inherited his father's spirit and zeal. His boy- 
ish enthusiasm was fired in '48. The feelings of this 
era grew with his growth ; he was one of the first 
to join the Fenian Brotherhood in Tipperary ; and, 
with Kickham, was a chief propagandist of it in that 
county. Subsequently his energies and ability were 
brought into play on a larger field of operations. In 
18G0 he began the study of medicine in Dublin, wrote 
for the press, and, on the organization of the Irish 
PiovJc coq)s, he became sub-oJitor of that journal. 

At this time Mr. Mulcahy presented a fine personal 
appearance, l^^^early six feet in height, with a skin fair 



FEOTAN HEROES AOT) SIAETTRg. 



369 



as a woman's, his rich golden hair long and curling to 
his shoi;lders, his beard fair and silky, and features 
mild and regular, gave him a dreamy, poetical look. 
^Vhen aroused, and speaking of Ireland, whether at 
the festive board, or addressing the impassioned sons 
of Tipperary, with his locks flung back from his brow 
and his mild eye transfigured into flame, he was the 
embodiment of the boldness and the passion of patri- 
otism. At the period of the seizure of the Fenian or- 
gan, Mr. Mulcahy was arrested. After some delay he 
was brought to trial, and, on the 27th January, 1866, 
found giiilty on all the counts. The trial was of the 
usual stereotyped kind ; Nagle, the informer, and his 
fellows, being the Government resource. 

The prisoner was about to reply to the usual ques- 
tion, when Mr. Justice Fitzgerald warned him that if 
he had any proper arguments " to address to the court, 
he could do so, but that the court would be obliged to 
interpose if the prisoner transgressed the proper 
limits." 

Mr. Mulcahy— "My lords, several pei-sons have been tried since 
the opening of this Special Commission. They were supplied with 
copies of most of the documents which were to be produced in 
e-vidence against them. When they came to this bar, they were 
fuUy a-nare of the charges they had to meet. I was arrested on 
the 2sth September last. I asked for the information on which I 
was arrested. There was none to be produced to me. I was 
thrown into a ceU and left there for twenty-fom- hours. I was 
brought before a magistrate, I was committed, or rather rem;mded. 
I was brought up agam. I asked to be shown the evidence upon 
which I was ai-rested or remanded, but there was not a smgle tittle 
of evidence to be produced to me, I had nothing but the snuple 



370 



DEN^IS DOWLING SIULCAHT. 



Efatement of the magistrate — ' Sir, I shall remaud you for a week.' 
I therefore, expected nothing, but to be taken by surprise, and to 
be deah with in the arbitrary manner in which I have been treated- 
Li Luby's case the Attorney-General stated that lie had documents 
wliich proved so overwhelmingly the existence of this conspiracy! 
that the jury who were empannelled should not try him, but con- 
vict him. Mr. Butt, who is one of the ablest lawyers at the Irish 
bar, made an application for a postponement of the trial, for the 
purpose of seeing certain documents; and on that occasion he 
pledged himself that there was not a single Act of Parliament 
wliicli would justify the seizure of the Irish People, and the ar- 
rest of those connected with it. We were deprived of our liberty, 
thrown into solitary confinement, and those against whom the 
same charges were made, th.at they were engaged in this conspira- 
cy, were not allowed to speak one word to each other. According 
to my lord's observations, every man was held responsible, not 
onl}- for his own acts, but for the acts of his fellow conspirator's, 
no matter at what time -or place committed. When Jlr. Butt 
made that application, the Attorney-General said that the prisoner 
Lad judicial knowledge of every single iota of evidence which was 
to be produced against him, and that copies of the evidence, or of 
the informations, would be given to him, and therefore he called 
upon you to refuse the application then made to you by that 
learned lawyer, who is an oniameut to his profession and an honor 
to his country. I relied on the truthfulness of the Attorney-Gene- 
ral. I attached to his words that weight and importance which 
were due to him as the representative of the Crown of this coun- 
try — due to him as a lawyer and a gentleman, and I therefore 
thought that I would not be taken by surprise. But how has he 
dealt with me? That is the question. When I came here yester- 
day morning, IMr. Lawless, who was untiring in his exertions on 
behalf of those who were accused of being concerned in what is 
called a treacherous conspiracy — an infamous conspiracy — we have 
heard so much of learned brothers — of learned friends, that one 
would have expected there should be nothing said that was not 
coiTect. We were charged by Sir. Bany in his opening state- 
ment " — 



FENIAN HEEOES AND IIAKTYES. 



371 



Mr. Justice Fitzgerald stopped him ashe had "not yet made 
one legitimate observation "— ,,„„>,, „imrise " 

Prisouer-" I am going to show that I was taken by surprise. 
Sir Justice Fitzgerald-" That is a fair observation. 
Prisone -"Ilavel nota righttoalludeto it? I care very Utt^ 

for ZTlson-felony, but 1 conceive that my ^^r^^^^^^'^^- 
been assailed, and I do not wish that the ^^^V^'^]'^''^ f^^ ^^^^ 
been made against it should go abroad on the wings of the press. 

'^°Pri:ir-'"Mr. Barry alleged that we preached the doctr-ines of 
sociaW I deny that; I deny the charge of assas^nation. I 
maintain that the doctrines preached by the Ir^f f^^P^ 
Mr Justice Fitzgerald-" I camiot hear you further. 
Prisoner-" Respecting the charge made agamst me, I say tha^ 
thf doctrines put forward against me in that paper are pu forward 
ly Johtstuan Mill, who is certainly as high an authority as you 
ran find. As regards the evidence "— 

Mr Justice Firzgerald-" The jury have determined upon that. 
Prisone;-" I want to show that there was nothing mimoral ux 
the doctrines preached by the Irish People "- ^^ 
ATr Tustice Fitzgerald— " I won't listen to you. 
Prisone;-"! never yet knew a prisoner to hit on that happy 
phrase why sentence should not be passed upon him - 

The Judge here repeated his previous warning, adding, I was 

further under the apprehension that you might give utterance to 

. I^ilLsTnt which ^ght coerce me to unpose a severer sentence 

%^llr ''fhTvt bl found guUty on insufiicient evidence 

It !rnot proved that i was in Clonmel. It was not proved that 

T .H ns a Flniam Mr. VoweU could not say that he saw me 
I acted as a Femam flU ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^,^^_ 

write for the last ten yeais. ne cou. „f „,„ pi,,,r^Pter of 



372 



FENIAU HEEOES AND MAETTEg. 



swore that he never paid me back money, for which I processed 
him. That is a fact which I could establish. The Attorney-Gren- 
eral said something about .being dupes of Stephens, Luby and 
O'Leary "— 

Mr. Justice Fitzgerald — " I cannot aUow this." 

Prisoner — " With regard to the connection between Stephens 
and Luby " — 

Tlie Judge would not listen to that subject. 

Prisoner — " One of these letters was put in for the purpose of 
connecting me with Fenianism. There was not a single particle 
of evidence in the case to show that I knew anything of the acts 
of others. There was no evidence that I ever went to a drill 
meeting ; no single particle of evidence that I was at the meeting 
in Clonmel." The prisoner then proceeded to point out discrepan- 
cies in Nagle's evidence, with a view to show that it was wholly 
incorrect He asserted that Nagle's statement that he (prisoner) 
had given him a letter of introduction to John O'Mahony was 
false. 

Sir. Justice Fitzgerald — " I really must put a stop to these ob- 
EeiTations. You are simply wasting time." 

Prisoner — "All I have now to say is that the Irish People 
preached proper doctrines, and that I am proud of my connection 
■with it, and with Stephens, Luby, John O'Leary " — 

Mr. Justice Fitzgerald — "I have warned you of the conse- 
quences." 

Prisoner — " I am now prepared to receive sentence." 

The prisoner was sentenced to penal servitude for 
ten years. 

Mulcahy, like his friends, suffered and suffers severe- 
ly in pi-ison. A letter from Dartmoor — a situation on 
a moor more than a thousand feet above the level of 
the sea, with a humid, foggy and cold climate — indi- 
cated his sufferings : " Nothing can be less suitable 
for one who has suffered as I had at Millbank from 



DENIS DOWLtNG MtTLCAHT. 



373 



neui-algia, which I first caught there owmg to the 
strong currents of air which passed through my cell. 
" It did occur to me," he continues, " that I may not 
be sent back to Portland tiU the decision of the lords 
was known, but that I might be removed to poking, 
as it was convenient to London." * * * " Had I 
given way to my grief, I must have sunk; but I med- 
itated on the words of the Lord to Jeremias : ' Think 
thoucrhts of peace and not of affliction ; you shall call 
upon me, and I will hear you ; I will bring back your 
captivity from all places.' I've placed myself under 
the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, unplored 
her intercession, and cast all my care upon her Dmne 
Son, and so I've been able to do Mhat I fear I other- 
wise should not bear with resignation— my fate." 

The decision of the Lords alluded to was in a writ 
of error sued out in his case. Mr. Mulcahy was sub- 
sequently returned to the " felon cells " of PentonviUe. 



374 



FENIAN UEK0E3 AND iUKTVKS. 



JOHN FLOOD, EDWAIiD DUFFY, MICHAEL 
' CODY. 



Flood Arr.-'stea with McCnffcity— Aids to Relcnfle Stcphpnd^Posltlon In the 
Orgaulzalion. Duffy Arrested with Stephens— Sick !n Pilson— Liberated— 
Ec-ArrcBled and Identiflod— Trials— Flood, Doff/ and Ccdj foand Guilty— 
Their Speeches In the Dock—Sentencee. 



.John Flood, who was an'estod wifli McCafferty in 
tlie Liffey under the name of Phillips, and who waa 
60 constantly alluded to by the informer and detec- 
tives, presented a striking appearance when confront- 
ed with his persecutors. A fine looking man, of large 
person, and frank, handsome features, adorned by an 
ample beard of a tawny color, his bearing was upright 
and stalwart, and he seemed' little affected by the con- 
finement of prison life. John Flood is about thirty 
years of age, and a "We.xftjrd man. Tie first became 
specially distinguished by his participation in the ar- 
rangements for the escape of Stejjhens from Ireland. 
He accompanied Stephens and Colonel Kelly in their 
perilous journey from Dublin to Scotland. Adverse 
winds blew their boat into Belfast Harbor with the 
' loss of their tiller; and it was owing to Flood's knowl- 
edge and exiK-rience that the party were saved. He 
received a severe injury in tlie hand letting go the an- 



FLOOD, DUIFY, AND CODY. 37o 

chor In the hurry to prevent their being driven toojar 
into the harbor. Flood saw Stephens safe to i aus 
and after a few days returned to Ireland, and almost 
immediately took his position as one of the first ofl^- 
cers of the English and Scotch Organization. He is 
frequently alluded to as one of the " Directory and as 
chief pro ector of the Chester affair. His comrades 
speak of him as a man of great energy, who a ways 
stood faithfully to his work, and was respected and 
relied upon by the people. 

It will be remembered that Edward Duffy was one 
of the parties arrested at Stephens' house on the 
morning of the 11th November, 1865. He was 
charged at the same time with confederating and con- 
spiring to levy war against the Queen, to separate Ire- 
land from England, and to establish a republic in the 
former. On this occasion, before the magistrates Mr. 
Duffy sharply catechised the police, and denied the 
right of the latter to search suspected localities with- 
out a warrant. He wanted to expose the fact that 
"according to British law, a constable can- arrest a 
man for treason without a warrant in Ireland. Ihe 
chief police magistrate declined to discuss the point, 
and Duffy called on the members of the pi^ss who 
were present to note the fact, "in order," as he said, 
« that the public may know under what sort of law we 
are livin-." Mr. Duffy was committed, with his 
friends, Stephens, Kickham, and Brophy, to Richmond 

^""ilr Edward Daffy was regarded as a person of 
more'than usual infiuence in the organizatiou-a man 



37G 



VKXIAN nVJlOKB AND IIAUTVJIS. 



of capacity, ability and resolution, who Btood high ia 
the e.-;liniatioii of tlie tlien controlling powers of tho 
Brotherhood. While in prison, however, grave symp- 
toiiis of di.scasc manifested themselves, which threat- 
ened to end in cfjnsigning Jfr. Duffy to a premature 
grave. The authorities, seeing his health such as 
■would prevent any future aid to the cause for which 
lie was aiTCsted, set liirn at liberty. He went to the 
west of Ireland, and, in company with a young man 
named Thomas Egan, was again arrested at Boyle in 
the County of Koscommon, on the 11th of J^Iurch, 
18G6. The prisoners were immediately cortvcyed to 
Dublin ; and on the trial of Captain McCafferty, while 
the informer Corydon was being examinef], Mr. Duffy 
was brought forward for identification with John 
Flood- Duffy was characterized as " the organizer for 
the province of Con naught." They were subKeqnent- 
ly brought to tnal at the Special CornmiKsion, Dublin; 
and on Friday, 17th May, Flood, Duffy, and Michael 
Cody, (who attempted to shoot his captoi*s,) were found 
guilty of treason-felony. It will be remembered that 
Flood and McCafferty were arrested on the 23d Feb- 
ruary, after having eluded the authorities from the 
day of the Chester demonstration ; and it was sought 
to directly connect tliein with the riring of the 5th 
March. An authoritative communication to the 
Dublin Trijihman contradicts this, and we are in a po- 
sition to know that the statement which follows is 
based on fact : 

" Of course anything that I can nay now cannot alttr the nen- 
tt-nce of the la-v, nor be of any benefit to the prisoner ; yet it h 



FLOOD, DUFfr, AND CODY. 



377 



due to history that tho truth Bhould be known. The Directory, of 
wliieh it was HuppOBf^l tliat Flood and MeCam;rty were .nember«, 
ha/l been iVrnmlvcA long before they came to Irelan'L Tlie rimng 
of the Oih was planned by other parties, and Ion- after ¥U,<A and 
MeCafferly were arresU;.], All this MasBcy c.uld have Ujld were 
he allowe-l U, give evidence on the trial of either. The paper w 
cleverly "barked " by the Crown, would also prove that these two 
rncn ha/l nothing whatever U> do with the rlBing, nor did they even 
know of that event. It is plain that the Crown lawyers kept 
SlafiWiy and bis infonnations ba-;k for the purpose of having Klood 
and McCafferty eonvictol They knew that the production of 
either on the trial would infallibly acjuit them. How will an 
a?t/.niBhed world look upon the English Governnwmt when tliat 
paper, in the k(;eping of tlie Chief Secretary, sliall see the light 
arid confirm my statement, that these men are innocent? 

On Tue;-:day, the 21st May, Flood, Duffy, and Cody 
were brought up for sentence. In reply to the usual 
r^uestion. Flood stood forward, and in a strong, clear 
voice and pleasant utterance, said: 

My lords—" I have been convicted on the evidence of three men. 
Kot one word of truth has either of them swoitl To begin with 
Cr.rydon. I wUl say that I wa? not present at tlic meeting ho 
de6r;ribeB as having taken pUce in Liverpool. 1 knew nothing 
about it, and I beUeve tliat the Crown c^/uniiel have had in their 
bands the means of disproving what he said. I believe that Ma.- 
eey'B evidence would go to disprove it, and in far,-t, there never 
was a Directory of which I was a member. The Crown ha.1 that 
cvidenr;e In their liands, and would not produce it. I was not in 
that place In Chester where Bray f-ays I was. Every word he 
Bwore concf;ming me was a falw^hood from beginning to end. £ 
rnay say that a detr^tive ofllcer went over to Manchester, but lie 
Attorney-General denied it, to tamper with a witness. If the de- 
tef;tivc went to Manchester, and K/.ught to know «h«""--^ ;';''« 
pwjple told the truth or not, he mu.it have satisfied hlms-;lf tUt 



378 



FEJrtiN HEROES AOT> MAKTYEg. 



they did tell the truth, and that I was in Manchester at the f!m«. 
Therefore, I say, the Crown held possession of evidence, which 
they withheld, to prove that I was not at Chester at the time the 
detective swore I was, I positively declare that the detective 
never saw me there, for I was not there. Now the evidence of 
Dawson, that very efiective detective, bears falsehood on the face 
of it He swears he saw me, and knew my appearance, about 
town for a length of time, and met me in Burke's public house, 
where I never was in my life. A strange coincidence is that on 
that night he saw me enter a drill-room. Can any one believe that 
that is ti-ue ? Now I say I have been unfairly dealt with other- 
wise, and I say that, by a sort of legal legerdemain, I have been 
placed on trial here on the terrible charge of assassination. No 
man in this couit could regard such a charge with greater horror 
than I do. No man lias a greater horror of it, and I never heard 
-of such an odious and abominable conspiracy as the witness 
Meara had deposed to. I am sure that no true Irishman would 
attempt to have an3'thing to do with such a thing. I heard noth- 
ing about it, and I do say that, if I should have been tried with 
any one, I should have been tried wiih JlcCafferty, the man with 
whom I was identifietl, and with whom I was arrested. I might 
have got a fair trial then, but I declare I have not had a fair trial. 
Tliere has been an extreme course adopted by the Crown toward 
me from my arrest to the present hour. I say they ha3 evidence 
in their possession which would have gone to prove my iunocence, 
and it has been suppressed. Let them deny that. The Attorney- ■ 
General says he thinks he is above motives. I impute no motives. 
I state facts and leave the world to judge. You saw how the iden- 
tificalion has been proved against me by that woman from Chester. 
I will tell you how such a thing is cairied on. AVe were taken to 
Mountjoy and paraded before the Detective Police, and day after 
day came groups of people, cither informers or dclectives from 
England or elsewhere, always accompanied by one or more of the 
detectives who came there the day before ; and I do not know but 
these people were told, 'That's Flood,' or 'That's .McCafferty.' 
If they had come forward aud identified me properly, they should 
have said, 'You are the m:m 1 saw in Clitbter, or Liverpool,' as 



Avassssass^-3S.giiaKi3ri.-i, ■■. 



FLOOD, DtTFIT, AITO CODT. 



379 



the case may be. I repeat again that I have been unfairly dealt 
with in every sense of the word. The Attorney-General has 
alluded to me repeatedly as 'that wretched man.' If loving my 
country through my whole life should make me wretched, I am 
wretched indeed ; for I teli you now, and I tell the world, that I 
not only abhor assassination, but that I would rather go to my 
doom than be guilty of the moral assassination that has been prac- 
ticed against me. I am ready, my lords, for my sentence." 

The usual question was then put to Du%, who 
stepped forward, and despite the miserably weak state 
to which illness had reduced him, spoke as follows, 
clearly and distinctly, but evidently with much diffi- 
culty : 

Jly Lords—' ' I am not in a capacity to say much to your lord- 
ships, after the evidence of that man Kelly against me. He has 
sworn falsely against me. I leave my countrymen to judge. 
There is no political act of mine which I regret. I joined the as- 
sociation sincerely, for my countiy's cause, and I have been actu- 
ated throughout by a strong sense of duty. I believe that a man's 
duty to his countiy is part of his duty to God, for it is He that, in 
fact, implants the feeling of patriotism in the human breast, and 
who knows whether I have been actuated by any paltry ambition, 
and whether I have worked for any selfish ends. For the late 
outbreak I am not responsible. I did all in my power to prevent 
it, knowing that, circumstanced as we were, it would be a failure. 
I feel bound, ia justice to myself; to say this. It had been stated 
on the trials that Stephens was for peace. That was a mistake, 
and it may be well that it should not be left uncontradicted. It l<- 
but too well known in Ireland that he sent numbers of men here 
to fight, promising them to be with them when the time would 
come. The time did come, but not Mr. Stephens. He remained 
behind. He went to France to see the Paris Exhibitioa It may 
be a very pleasant sight, but I would not be in his place now. He 
is a lost man — lost to Ireland, lost to his country. There are a 



380 



FEXIAU HEK0E3 AND MAETrE3. 



few things that I Tvould wish to say relative to the evidence given 
on my (rial, but I request, mj' lord, that you would give me per- 
mission to make those remarks after sentence has been passed. 
They solely and entirely relate to the evidence, and I have a reason 
for asking why I should be allowed to say them after sentence has 
been passed." 

The Chief Justice — "That is not the usual practice. The fact 
of j'our not having been tried for your life makes it very doubtful 
to me whether j'ou should speak at all as to why sentence should 
not be passed upon you. " 

The prisoner — ■" With regard to the first piece of evidence, I 
declare before my God, that not one word that man swore against 
me on the table was true. He swore he saw me at Enniskerry ; 
but I never spoke to him on any political subject, oi^ that I ever 
knew him to be an important member of the association until I 
saw the informations, I declare to Heaven I never did. He never 
spoke to me in my life, I knew him from the time he was a child, 
and I knew him to be among the vilest and worst in .that little 
town, and I knew the character he was. Is it to be supposed that 
I would put my liberty into the hands of such a character ? I 
never did. The next witness is Corydou. He swore that at the 
meeting to which he referred, I gave him directions to go to Kerry 
to O'Connor, and put himself in communication with them. I 
declare to my God that every word of that is false. Whether 
O'Connor was in the country or whether he made his escape, I 
knew as little as your lordship, and never heard of the . KeiTy 
rising till the tale of it appeared in the public papers. There is 
not a word of that that is not false. And as to giving the Ameri- 
can officers information, before my God, and on the verge of my 
gi-ave, as the sentence will send me to it, I saj' that is also false. 
As to the writing the policeman swore to in that book, and which 
is not a prayer book — it is an 'Imitation of Christ given to me,' 
by a lady to whom I seiTcd my time — what was written in that 
book was wriltoa by another young man wlio was in her employ- 
ment. That is his and not my writing. That is the WTiting of a 
young man in the house, and I never wrote a line or a word of it," 



FLOOD, DTJFFT, AND CODY. 



381 



Tlie Lord Chief Justice—" It was not sworn to be in your hand- 
writing, as I understand." 

Prisoner — "Yes, my lord. It was the policeman that swore 
it was in my handwriting." 

The Lord Chief Justice—" That Is a mistake. It was said to 
be hke yours, but it was not given in evidence against you." 

Prisoner — " It was said to be my writing. The jury have 
doomed me to a painful, but not less glorious death. I bid fare- 
well to my friends and aU who are dear to me. There is yet a 
world where souls are free, and in that world I would sooner be 
than live in a life like this. I am proud to be considered worthy 
of suffering for my country, and when I am in my lonely cell, 
during the longings of my weary spirit, I shall not forget Ireland, 
and my constant prayer shall be that the God of Liberty may give 
her time and strength to shake off her chains. (Addressing the 
reporters) — I would not wish it to be supposed that it was on ac- 
count of my position now that I spoke as I did. I am not able to 
speak on account of my disease, and I do not wish it said that it 
was on account of my position. It is on account of my illness." 

Michael Cody was regarded as a very dangerous 
cliaracter, and the names of the judges, prosecuting 
counsel, and jurors who tried Bourke and Doran hav- 
ing been found upon him, gave a pretext to the au- 
thorities to extend unusual severity to him. When 
his turn came to addi-ess the court, he said : 

" As to the evidence of Foley, there arc two men prepared to 
say" he never saw me until he was brought to Kilmainham. 
Mea"-her says he met me in company with Baines, in the Canal 
Tavern, with a parcel of bowie-knives. This, also, is false , for I 
never had a bowie-knife in my possession, but one which was 
found in my possession in Lesson Lane. As to my acquaintance 
with St. Clair, Devoy, and others, I feel proud to be acquainted 
with them. From the moment I became sensible of my arrest, 



382 



FEXIAK HEROES AND MAETTE9. 



I was fully confident that a case would be trumped up against me, 
and I am not disappointed with tlie verdict. As to Coiydmi, he 
also swears that he knew me in 18C5, and that I filled the position 
of centre, militaiy organizer, detective, and Cliief of the Assassina- 
tion Committee, I am not so presumptuous as to imagine myself 
competent to fill any one of them ; hut in justice to my own 
character, and in justice to the character of the men who are iu 
the dungeons of Portland, I think I have a right to say that that 
charge is altogether unfounded. I am now about to be deprived 
of my liberty, perhaps for life, and I would scorn to say what is 
false, even to get out of this dock ; and before God and this assem- 
bly I say that the charge against me of being connected with that 
assassination committee, is as false as God is true. I have nothing 
more to say." 

Mr. Baron Deasy then proceeded to pas3 sentence. 
In the course of his observations, he fully exonerated 
Flood and Duffy from any connection with the assas- 
sination plan , referred to by Corydon, and sentenced 
them to Fifteen Years' Penal Servitude eacli. The 
" evidence " produced against Cody on his trial, and 
the circuihstauce of his previous arrest, " compelled 
the Court" to give him Twenty years. 

After the sentence had been pronounced, the con- 
victs were removed from the cells beneath the court 
and conveyed to Mountjoy prison, escorted by mounted 
police, and two troops of the Ninth Lancers. 



GENERAL JOHN NEILU 



383 



GENEKAL JOKN" O'NEILL. 

Birth— Local InEpiration at Clontibret— Emigrates to IT. S.— At BnelnePS— Mil- 
itary Leanings— Goes to the Mormon War— The Rehellion- Service? In— 
Promotions— Military Instructor— Lieutenant of the 5th Indiana Cavalry— 
His Dash— Whips Morgan's Men at Buffiugton Bar— Sick— Fighting Again— 
Resigns— Romantic Marriage— A Fenian— The Representative Man of the 
Canadian Party- The Invasion of Canada— He Commands the Expedition — 
Battle of Ridgeway— Conflict at Fort lErie— Not Supported— Arrested by 
U, S. Authorities while Re-crossing. 



John O'Neill was born in the townland of Drum- 
gallon, parish of Clontibret, County Monaghan, on 
the Sth of March, 1834. His father died five weeks 
before the birth of his son, and his mother came to 
America in 1840, accompanied by a brother, leaving 
the children, two sons and a daiighter, with their 
D-rand parents in Monaghan. Three years afterwards 
she sent for the two eldest children, the youngest, 
John, being allowed to remain at the earnest request 
of his relatives. He availed himself of the opportu- 
nities for such education as the school attached to 
Clontibret Church afforded ; and, in the historic lore 
of the locality, had his young blood stirred with tales 
of the great hero of his race, Hugh O'lSTeiU, who at 
this place, in 1595, put Elizabeth's troops, under Sir 
John ISTorris, to rout, and killed in single combat Scd- 
grave, who was esteemed the most valiant and power- 



3S4 



FENIAif HEROES AUD MAETTES. 



ful champion in the English pale. Doubtless these 
scenes and tales were the inspu'ation which opened the 
path to Ridgeway. 

In the Spring of 184:8 the boy O'Neill ' came to^ 
America and joined his mother in Elizabeth, New 
Jersey. After attending school for a year he entered 
a store as clerk, in which position he remained less 
than three years. This business did not suit his ambi- 
tious nature. He wanted to see the world — to choose 
his own vocation. Quick, intelligent and reliable, he 
started out when little more than sevei"4een years of 
age to carve out his fortune. He traveled as agent 
for a New Tork publishing house through New Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and subsequently 
in Virginia, as agent of a London House. In the Fall 
of 1855, he started a Catholic bookstore in Richmond, 
but the enterprise failed for lack of Catholic popula- 
tion and spirit in that city. 

O'Neill's leanings had always been to a military 
life, and he had only been prevented from entering 
upon it by the opposition of his mother and relatives. 
He had now mixed considerably with the world. 
Travel had but added to his soldier sympathies, and 
wheti the Monuon War was the chief topic of specu- 
lation, he enlisted in the Second Dragoons at Balti- 
more, May, 1857. "Wlien the Rebellion broke out 
O'Neill was serving in the 1st Cavalry at Fort Crook, 
California, and accompanied that regiment to the At- 
lantic side, arriving in Washington on Christmas day, 
1S61. He served -under McClellan throughout the 
Peninsula campaign, had command of General Stone- 



GENERAX JOHN o'NEILL. 



385 



man's bodyguard at the battle of Williamsburgh ; 
Avas through the seven days in front of Kichmond ; 
and had his horse shot imder him at Gaines' Mills, 
just before the Irish Brigade came up and saved the 
day. After McClellan's retreat to Harrison's Landing, 
tlie 1st Cavalry was temporarily broken up, and most 
of the commissioned and non-commissioned officera 
were sent on recruiting service. O'Neill was detailed 
to Indianapolis, and while there did valuable service 
as instructor of the cavalry officers of the "Home 
Legion," as well as of companies and regiments then 
being organized for the field. O'Neill had been pri- 
vate, corporal, sergeant, and acting sergeant-major in 
the regular cavalry, and now left that' service to ac- 
cept the position of Second Lieutenant in the 5th 
Indiana Cavalry. 

With this regimdnt Lieutenant O'Neill served in 
Kentucky during the Spring and part of the Summer 
of 1863, and was conspicuous in the pursuit of John 
Morgan through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. His 
services became so well acknowledged by the regi- 
ment, that whenever a detail was made for a scouting 
party, the question " is O'Neill going to lead it," be- 
came of common occurrence. A soldier who 6ei"ved 
with him, -wTiting from Bardstoum, Ky., in August, 
'63, says : " We know of seven rebels he lias killed with 
his own hands. We know he charged and put to rout 
200 rebels with 33 men. We know he charged two 
regiments of Morgan's command with fifty men, and 
took three of their guns. Let every officer in the ser- 
vice do that well, and the piivates will soon finish the 



-""^^-■'-■''rti'imaituTirif rS*^-^-*- 



386 



FENIAN HEEOES AND MAKTTE9. 



balance." His acliievement with Morgan's regiments 
we give almost in the words of Archbishop Purcell, 
of Cincinnati ; 

General Judah left Pomeroy for Buffington on tiie 
night of the 19th July, 1863. He sent first Lieuten- 
an°t O'Neill with fifty men ahead to try and open 
communications with the militia, said to be in close 
proximity. He arrived an hour and a half after day- 
licrht, learned that the militia had been skirmishing 
during the night, and that Judah's advance had 
been ambushed— the morning being v§ry foggy— and 
the General's A. A. G., Captain Kise, and the Chief 
of Artillery, Captain Henshaw, some thirty men, 
xvith one piece of artillery, captured and carried 
to Morgan's headquarters, on the river road, some two 
' miles ahead. The Lieutenant at once resolved to re- 
capture them, and kept steadily on. Several parties 
tried to stop him, but a volley invariably drove them 
" back. At length he came on Morgan with two regi- 
ments and a body guard of one hundred men. _ He 
halted his men suddenly at an angle of the road within 
a hundred and fifty paces. He was prevented from 
giving them a volley by seeing some of his own men 
in front. Giving the order " forward," he dashed in. 
[Morgan broke and ran. All of our men were re-cap- 
tured and thirty of the enemy taken. O'Neill pur- 
sued Morgan for two miles and captured three pieces 
of artillery. " This," says Archbishop Purcell, " was 
the last of Morgan on the field." 

After tlie Morgan chase. Lieutenant O'Neill exiieri- 
cuced a very severe illness, and lay at the point of 



GENERAL JOHN o'nEILL. 



387 



death for weeks in Pusing Sun, Indiana. Joining his 
regiment on the 10th November, he was severely 
wounded on the 2d December, while gallantly and 
successfully repelling a charge of the enemy at Walk- 
er's Ford, Clinch Piver, East Tennessee. Here, the 
Colonel failing to rally the men, O'Neill took com- 
mand. " He rode out all the day, never seeking shel- 
ter, cheering the men. AVhen other ofiicers had given 
up all as lost, he replied, ' not by a long sight.' Ho 
met with a heai-ty response from the men." He was 
wounded while successfully making the last stand. 
Compelled to take rest, he received leave of absence, 
and for the first time in seven yeare visited his mother 
and relatives at their New Jersey homes. 

Returning to his regiment, and finding political 
influence stronger than soldierly merit, Lieutenant 
O'Neill resigned. At his own request he was 
appointed Captain in the 11th U. S. Colored Infantry, 
and was detailed on the Military Examining Board, 
sitting at Nashville, Tennessee. He was promised the 
Colonelcy of a colored regiment of cavalry ; but the 
oi-ganization of these troops was dispensed with 
towards the close of the war, and the Captain's wound 
becoming troublesome, he tendered his resignation to 
the War Department, which was accepted November, 
ISGt. He got married about this time, under roman- 
tic circumstances. A young lady— Mies Mary Crov/ 
—to whom he had been engaged in California, hear- 
ing of his wounds, came from the shores of the Pacific 
wiVii a family of her acquaintance, to nurse and tend 
tlie hero to whom she had pledged her troth. Hia 



383 



FENIAN H'EnOEa AND MAKTYES. 



devotion vras equal to lier faith, and he at once gave 
licr the right to comfort him as a ^vife. 

In May, 1865, Captain O'Neill opened an oflBce in 
Xashville, Tennessee, and was remarkably successful. 
This he gave up to fulfil what he believed to be his 
duty in following the policy adopted by the seceding 
wing of the Fenian Organization. His connection 
with the invasion of Canada, makes him the represen- 
tative military man of the Canadian party — and, 
indeed, regarding that invasion as the result of the 
policv of that party, he may be regarded as the most 
comprehensive representative man of thef spirit of that 
party in its entirety. The record of General O'Neill 
in this especial connection, is made from his official 
report, kindly furnished at the request of the writer. 

In obedience to orders, Colonel O'Neill left Nash- 
ville on the 27th May, 1866, and arrived at Buffalo, 
N. Y., on the 30th. Being the senior officer present, 
he was designated to lead the projected expedition. 
On the' night of the 31st, eight hundred men were 
reported— detachments from the following regiments : 
13th Infantry, Colonel John O'Neill ; 17th Infantry, 
Colonel Owen Starr ; 18th Infanty, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Grace ; 7th Infantry, Colonel John Hoy ; and two 
companies from Indiana, under Captain Haggerty ; 
but not more than six hundred were got together when 
the crossing took place. The movement commenced 
at midnight. At 3:30 a. m. on June 1st, the men and 
arms and ammunition were put on board four canal 
boats at a point called Little Black Kock. They were 
towed across the Niagara river, and landed at TVater- 



FENIAN HEEOES AKD ILAETTEa, 



589 



loo. At i o'clock in the morning the Irish flag was 
displayed on British soil by Colonel Starr, who com- 
manded the two first boats. On landing, O'Neill 
ordered the telegraph ^vires to be cut down, and sent 
a party to destroy the railroad bridge leading to Port 
Colbome, Starr, with the Kentucky and Indiana 
contingents, proceeded through the town of Erie to 
the old Fort, some three miles up the river, and occu- 
pied it. O'Neill then demanded subsistence of the 
citizens of Erie, assuring them that no depredations 
would be permitted, and his request was cheerfully 
complied with. At 10 o'clock he moved into camp at 
Newbiggin's fann, on Frenchman's Creek, four miles 
from Fort Erie, down the river, and occupied it until 
10 p. M. Some of his men on a foraging excursion on 
the Chippewa road, had come up with the enemy's 
scouts, and towards night O'Neill received intelligence 
that a large force (said to be 5,000) with artillery, 
were advancing in two columns — one from Chippewa, 
the other from Port Colborne — also, that troops from 
the latter were to attack him from the Lake side. At 
this time, owing to straggling and desertion, O'Neill's 
force was not more than five hundred men. The odds 
were terrible, but the commander was schooled in 
danger. At 10 p. m. he broke camp, and marched 
towards Chippewa, and at midnight changed direc- 
tion, and moved on the Lime Stone Ridge road lead- 
ing towards Ridgeway. His object was to meet the 
column coming from Port Colborne — to get between 
the two colmuTis, and defeat one before the other could 
render aid. 



390 GENEEAi JOHN o'nEILL: 

At about 7 o'clock on tlio morning of 2d June, 
^Y•ltllin three niilcB of Ridgeway, Colonel Starr, com- 
manding tli3 advanc3, came up with the advance ot 
the enemy, mounted. He drove tliem withm sight ot 
their skinnisli line, which extended about half a mile' 
on both sides of the road. O'Neill immediately ad- 
vanced his skirmishers and formed a line of battle 
behind temporary breastworks made of rails, on a road 
badin- to Fort Erie, and parallel with the enemy. 
Tiie skirmishing was briskly kept up for half an hour. 
The enemy was attempting to flank O'Neill on both' 
sides ; and he failed to draw their centre, which wa3 
partially protected by thick timber. In this exigency 
he fell back a few hundred yards, and formed a new 
lire. Tiie British, seeing how few the invading troops 
were, became adventurous. They supposed O'Neill 
had retr ited, and advanced in pursuit. Now was 
O'Neill's chance, and he did not fail to take it. The' 
British come on rapidly after the Irish, who-" retreat ' 
not quite so rapidly. They come nearer and nearer— 
now they are near enough for O'Neill's purpose. He 
gives his orders with decision; a volley stops the 
career of the British; it is their turn to retreat— but 
they retreat in earnest, with the Irish after them ia 
earnest too ; driving them for three miles, and through 
the town of Ridgeway. In their retreat, the British 
threw away knapsacks, guns, and everything lilcely to 
retard their speed, and left some ten or twelve killed, 
n-arly thirty wounded, with twelve prisoners in the 
hands of the Irislu O'Neill gave up the pursuit one 
mile beyond Eidgeway. 



FENIAH HEROES AOT) MAETTE3. 



391 



Although victorious, O'Neill's position was very 
critical. The reported strength of the enemy he had 
engaged was 1,400, embracing the " Queen's Own," 
the Hamilton Battalion, and other troops. A regi- 
ment from Port Colborne was said to be on the road 
to reinforce them. The column from Chippewa would 
also hear of the fight, and move on his rear with all 
celerity. Thus situated, he decided to return to Fort 
Erie and learn if reinforcements for the invading army 
had been sent across at any other points. Seeing 
after the dead and wounded, he divided his com- 
mand, and sent Starr with one half down the Railroad 
to destroy it and the bridges, and led the rest on the 
pike-road to Fort Erie. They united at the old fort 
at i p. M. O'Neill next had a skirmish with the 
AVelland Battery, which had arrived there from Port 
Colborne in the morning, and had picked up some 
stragglers and deserters. The enemy fired from the 
houses. Three or four men were killed, and twice 
that number were wounded on both sides. Here the 
Irish captured forty-five prisoners, among them Cap- 
tain King, wounded — who had his leg amputated; 
Lieutenant McDonald, Royal Navy, and Lieutenant 
Nemo, Royal Artillery. Taking precautions against 
surprisal, O'Neill put himself in communication with 
his friends in Buffalo, stating his desperate position. 
He was willing, if a movement was going on else- 
where, to hold out ; and, if necessary, to make the old 
Fort a slaughter-pen sooner than surrender. His men 
were without food or supplies, and had marched forty 
miles, and had two conflicts. When, therefore, he 



392 



GENERAL JOHN O NEILL, 



learned tliat no crossing Lad Leen made in liis aid, he 
promptly demanded transportation, which was fur- 
nished ahout midnight of the 2d June. Tliey were 
all on hoard hy 2 a. si., and when in Amcri(;an waters, 
they were arrested hy the American authoi-ities. So 
ended the invasion of Canada. The commanding 
officer, under the trying circumstances hy which he 
was surrounded, displayed undouhted capacity. If he 
had heen supported, there is no doubt he would have 
added to his mihtary distinction. 

Having been released on his o\vn recognizance to 
answer the charge of violation of the Neutra'Ity Laws, 
General O'Neill returned to Tennessee. He subse- 
quently took up his abode in Washingtco, D. C, 
where he hopes to repair the inroads maJ?: upon his 
property. He said to a friend recently th^t the ser- 
^aces to the cause, thus briefly described. Lave dam- 
aged his fortunes to the amount of at Iiaast thirty 
thousand doUara. 



FEUIAN HEKOES A2rt) MAETTES. 



393 



DECLAKATIONS IN THE DOCK. 

Moore the Pikemaker - Jolin HalHgan-Bryan Dillon-John Lynch-Jeremlah 
O'Donovan-Thomae Daggan-Chariee Underwood O'ConneU-J. B. S. CaBcy 
("The Galtee Boy")-Michael O'Hcgan-John KinnealT^ameB O Connor- 
C M. O'Eceffe-ComeliuB O'Mahony-C. Dwyer Keane-Martin Hanly Carey 
-Daniel O'Counell- -William Francis Roauiree-Patrick John Heyhoame- 
JameB Flood-Hugh Frauds Brophy-Patrlck Doran-M. A. O'Brennan. 

Michael Mooee, a blacksmith, was, on the 6th De- 
cember, 1865, placed at the bar, and indicted for con- 
spiring to depose the Queen, to levy war upon her, 
and stir up strangers to invade Ireland. 

The Attorney-General stated the case, reading a 
number of documents and letters, which referred to 
the prisoner's connection with the recognized Fenian 
leaders in Ireland and America. ' The testimony of 
the informers, Nagle and Power, was .the same as on 
previous trials. Mr. Butt, Queen's Counsel, addressed 
the jury for the defence, and was followed by the So- 
licitor-General on tlie part of the Crown. 

The prisoner, who was found guilty, having been asked by the 
clerk of the Crown if he had anjthing to say why sentence should 
not be passed upon him, said that with regard to his trial, what he 
had to say was that the verdict was not altogether unexpected on 
his part, after the charge he heard from tlio judge. He had been 
brou-ht there unexpectedly. He did not expect to be brought 
into "that court i6 h» Uicd for what he was accused o£ He be- 



394 



DECLARATIONS m THE TlOCK. 



beved he ^as not griilty In any case. He was firmly con,n„cea 
hewasf,n,na guilty b.fore he was Ined. From X first cW he 
entered , ho jail he was sure that would be the case Th Ire 

ylo had found h,m guilty were satisUed he was gniltv, for they 

Whatever The jury had done their duty as far as the law rc- 
qmred^the law Which governed Ireland, which made an hi t 
man become a "rebel," as they termed it, and made him even 
fen e^ ^J^^, f '''"^' "°' ^^ ^ ^-- "-' ''^ ^=s orile 
hmnL L ""''''^ '°^ ''^""^ °^ talent-he was only an 

humble workmg man. When a man was found guilty of hi^U 
eason or striving ,o earn an honest livelihood in his own col' 
OSbejus putthatfor..ard as a sample of what tflose who hTd 
to hve m thts country had to e.xpect. He was now done, except 
n ely to ask .hat a few articles of his in the jail, with soie other 

The prisoner spoke in a firm voice, but at the same 
time with a quietness of demeanor. 

Judge Keogli promised that Moore's request sliould 
begianted, and then passed sentence on him of ten 
jears' penal servitude. 

Jomv Haltigax, the registered printer of the Irish 
1 eo2)h, was mdicted and tried for treason-felony and 
conspt-acy on the 8th December, 1865. Mr Ilaltican 
had identihed himself with Irish nationality fi^m 
youth. ^ ' 

Ilaltigan was foreman printer in the office of tlie 
lullenny Jonrnal ; and when Fenianism fi,-st started 
Mas one amongst its earliest members, always ready 
with his means • and nominally the head of the or<ran- 



^.■ytaaar^^^^-.--»-'=^-^--~----».---'---'''--'-"-TP'-'grTifiiiiiiiiirtnriiHi^ 



FENIAN HEEOES AND MARTTE3. 395 

ization in Kilkenny since 1859, he became actually 
so after the incarceration of P. M. Dalany, and in 
that capacity extended the organization all over the 
country. He became printer of the Irish People, 
and with T. C. Luby and O'Donovan (Rossa), was a 
registered proprietor. He spent most of liis time, 
however, traveling through different parts of Ireland 
with authoritative messages, and organizing. Ilis 
movements were narrowly watched by the detectives ; 
and the police tbrougliout the County Kilkenny had 
special orders to be on his trail. 

" I rem2mber well," says Mr. T. P. McKenna, "the 
day appointed for the nomination of candidates for- 
p:irriara3nt for the county of Kilkenny, when all ther 
Fenians, preceded by a band, were coming in from 
Callan with Dunne, the nailor, who was put up as' 
memlier for the county, Coj-ne and Cody, of Callan, 
and Haltigau in the foremost rank. Dunne having 
his placards posted throughout the county that he 
would attend to receive the nomination at the Court 
House in Kilkenny, the authorities at Dublin Castle' 
thou'iht it prudent to send an extra detachment of sol- 
diers to that city. The Fenians inarched ' four deep' 
tlirougli the city to the Court House ; but drawn up 
on the street through M'liich they had to pass was a 
detachment of lancers, headed by the stipendiary 
magistrate, who ordered them to halt, and told them 
he would not permit them to pass. Haltigan's face 
got flushed, and going forward he told the magistrates 
that they would pass if it cost them tuoe lives. 
The officials half cowered at the threat, and said they 



aAiaiissfctiA. 



396 



DECLAEATIONS IN THE DOCK. 



woiild be allowed to pass if they got out of military 
order. This Haltigau and Coyne would not consent 
to do, and after some more bandying of words they 
were permitted to pass. This, although a slight inci- 
dent, is characteristic of the manliness and determina- 
tion of the man." 

lialtigan was taken the night of the seizure of the 
Irish People, and was the fourth man tried at the 
Special Commision. The day preceding his trial, an 
article appeared in some Dublin daily paper, intima- 
ting (hat if his antecedents alone were investigated, 
it would be sufficient to convict him on his trial." His 
counsel, Mr. Pi'dney, Q. C, had the article next day 
in court, and contended that it would prejudice his 
client's case. All Judge Keogh did was to say the 
article was an improper one. He was convicted. In 
answer to the formal question, the prisoner said he 
had nothing to say, and was then sentenced to seven 
years' penal servitude. 

Haltigan turned round, leaned over the edge of the 
dock and kissed his son who stood near him— a lad of 
about sixteen years of age, the eldest of a family of 
nine — and he then left the dock. 

The son, true to the principles for which his father 
was exiled— true to the promise made him in the dock 
—was indefatigable in his exertions to extend the or- 
ganization. He traveled throughout the country with 
ijiessages from the Chief, and, in turn, was subjected 
to the vigilance of the police. On the suspension of 
the Haleas Corpus Act he had to secrete himself and 
came to America in the Winter of '66-7. 



MiirV-'"""^'^^"'^ 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AKD MAETYE3. 



397 



Bryan Dillon, of Dillon's Cross, Cork, was tried 
at the Special Commission, Cork, Friday, 19th Decern-- 
ber, 1865, and found guilty. In reply to the usual 
question, he spoke firmly, but inaudibly, and said : 

He never was even for one minute in Warner's (the informers) 
company ; that wliat Warner swore about him was totally mi^rue, ' 
and that he never was at a meeting at Geary's house. The exist- 
ence of the Fenian organization had been proved suflSciently to 
their lordships. He was a Centre in that organization, but it did 
not follow from that that he had to take the chah at any meeting, 
as it was a military organization. He did not want to conceal 
anything. Warner had no connection with him whatever. With 
respect to the observation of the Attorney -General, which pained 
him very much, that it was intended to seize property, it did not 
follow because of his social station that he hitended to appropriate 
the propcity of others. His belief in the ultimate independence 
of Ireland was as firm as his religious belief. 

Judge Kco^h— " We cannot hear that. We will give you any 
indulgence we can, but we cannot hear words spoken that are in 
fact a repetition of the charge." 

Dillon said he had no more to say, * 

He was sentenced to ten years' penal servitude. 

John Lynch was tried at the same time and received 
the same sentence, previous to which he said: 

"I will say a few words, my lords. I know it would be only a 
waste of public time if I entered into any explanation of my po- 
litical opinions — opinions which I know are shared in by the vast 
majority of my feUow countrymen. Standing here, as I do, will 
be to them the surest proof of my sincerity and honesty. With 
reference to the statement of Warner, all I have to say is, and I 
say it honestly and solemnly, that I never attended a meeting at 
Geary's, that I never exercised with a rifle there, that I never 



398 



DECLARATIOXS tN THE DOCK. 



learned the use of llic rifle, nor dkl any of Ibe other tlnnq;9 he 
swore to. AVitU rcsi)cct to my opinion on Erilish uilo in this coiin- 
tiy " — 

Jfr. Justice Keogh — " We can't hear that," 

Tlio Prisoner—" AU I have to say i3 that I was not at Geary's 
for four or five months before my arrest, so that Warner's state- 
ment is untrue. If having served my country honestly and sin- 
cerely he treason, I am not ashamed of it. I am now prepared to 
receive any punishment British law can inflict on me. 

Jeremiah O'Donotan and Thomas Dcggan were 
charged with swearing in soldiers of the 4th IJragoon 
Guards. Tried on 20th December, 1865, and found 
guilty. Donovan was sentenced to five years' penal 
servitude, and Dr.ggan to ten years. 

Chahles Undehwood O'Connell is a native of the 
County Cork. He has had the benefit of a good edu- 
cation, and became a member of the Organization in 
its early days. His parents were dispossessed of their 
farm, and the whole family was subsequently prose- 
cuted by the landlord on a charge of conspiring to in- 
timidate him by threatening letters. Ciiarles came to 
America in 1862, and returning to Ireland, remained 
about six months, when he again came to New 
York. lie organized Company K, of the 99th Kegi- 
ment, N. Y. N. G., and served with it at EIraira 
in charge of the Confederate prisoners. lie was pas- 
sionately fond of music and poetry, and his tent was 
tlie rendezvous of many congenial spirits. Tlie strains 
of "The Battle Eve of the Brigade," "O'Donnel Aboo" 
and other inspiriting songs and ballads, were fre- 



iiiffliifflatth'tftii^" 



FENIAK UER0E3 AND MARTYE9. 



3fl9 



quently heard therein. In September, 1SC5, Cap- 
tain O'Connell left for Ireland, bearing a package of 
the contents of which he was ignorant, but which 
were sufiicient to show his intimacy with the Feniau 
leaders. He was arrested on his landing. He was 
brought to trial on the 20th December, 1865, and 
found guilty the next day. Being asked if he had 
anything to say, he, after a brief pause, said : 

"1 have; and in the few remarlcs I have to make, I hope I 
shall not he guilty of any disrespect to this honorable court. It is 
the boast of the proud Briton that in the eye of the English law 
every man, before his crime is proved, is supposed to be innocent, 
I have to complain that I ^^■as tried, found guilty, and punished 
before ever I -was brought into this court. When I lea thr ITnited 
States to which I have swora allegiance, upon my legitimate 
business, and before I had landed, I was seized by policemen and 
dragged off to the police barracks. There, Sub-Inspector Greaves. 
surro°unded by his men, who danced about me like dogs around a 
■wild beast, stripped me naked. I swear this before God. He 
then gave orders to have me thrust into a cell where a drunken 
En<'lish soldier had been imprisoned. I have to speak of the oral 
testimony brought against me-the evidence of Sub-Inspector 
Greaves. He has sworn as to the sealed parcel found in my pos- 
session and m my trunk. I most solemnly declare I was as igno- 
rant of the contents of that package as I am of when time shall 
be no lonn-er. These mUitary documents connected with my regi- 
ment were m my trunl<, and the sealed parcel was not in the breast 
pocket of my coat, but in my trousers pocket, and it was not 
taken from me by Sub-Inspector Greaves. He came towards n.e 
on the deck of the vessel, accompanied by the deteclivc, and asked 
me --f I had any arras, and I said I had a revolver, and ihereujiou 
handed it to him. Some observations passed, during winch 
O'M-aiony put his hand into my trousers pocket, pulled nirf the, 
package and handed it to Greaves. Now. with regard to the tcs- 



400 



DECLM^ATIONS m THE DOCK. 



timony of the policcmnn Sage, I say there is not a particle of truth 
ill it — not a single word. I know this country well enough, and 
profess to be pretty well acquainted with it. I know the constab- 
ulary to be composed exclusively of Irishmen, and it would be idle 
for me to ask if he were an Irishman. Such a conversation as he 
lias sworn to having passed between us never occurred — so help 
me God. The letter read as having been written by me from St. 
Louis M'as not mine, Inasmuch as I was never in St. Louis in my 
life. Neither was that parcel given me by Col. John O'Mahony 
or by any person connected with his office. It was given to me 
by a gentleman in Broadway, New York, the day before I left to 
return homf, with a request to hand it to some person in DubUn. 
Now, your honorable court, I do not believe there is a parallel m 
the wide world for the barbarities practiced upon political prison- 
ers in this countty." 

Mr. Justice Kc )gh — "We cannot listen to that, and your com- 
mon seJise will tell yoQ so." 

Prisoner — "I have to complain that every little thing I had in 
Ibe world was seized by the police — my private and family letters, 
hooks, and everj'tbing else — the letter from my poor exiled father 
and sisters to ms : and these they have still in their, possession. 
They do not contain anything I have reason to be ashamed of. 
They bitterly bewail their exile, but do not muiinur against God 
or man. I have more than that to contplain of" — 

Mr. Justice Keoo;h interposed. 

Prisoner — " I have set out by stating I believed that I was tried, 
found guilty, and punished before I was brought into this court 
I will undertake to prove I have to complain of a miserable little 
scorpion " — 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "We cannot hear that." 

Prisoner — " I allude, my lord, to her ]\Iajesty's Attorney-Gene- 
ral. No, I beg pardon ; it is to the Solicitor-General, Mr. Sulli- 
van." 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "I won't hear anything upon that sub- 
ject" 



FENIAN HEROES AKD MARTYRS. 



401 



Prisoner — " I assure you I will prove that he is an enemy of a 
near and dear relative of mine, and that he endeavored to ruin 
him." 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "We cannot allow these observations." 

Prisoner — "Anything I state I say fearlessly and aboveboard. 
I shall say nothing of the hopes and aspirations which may have 
filled my mind " — 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "We cannot allow you to proceed." 

Prisoner — " I am not done, my lord," 

Mr. Justice Keogh reminded him that he did not serve hia case. 

At this stage of the proceedings the prisoner's 
counsel advanced up to the bar and implored him to 
be silent. ' 

Prisoner — "Before I conclude, I have to return my heartfelt 
thanks to the noble, gallant, and gifted counsel who conducted my 
defence. It has been put forward that I hold a commission in the 
99th Regiment, under Col. John O'Mahony ; and proud as I am of 
holding a commission in that regiment, 1 am equally proud of 
holding it under his command." 

Mr. Justice Keogh — " We cannot hear that" 

Prisoner — "Well, in conclusion, I believe" — 



Mr. Butt, Q. C, here interposed. 

Mr. Justice Keogh, in passing sentence, said : 

"Ton say you swore allegiance to the American Republic^ but 
no man by doing so can relieve himself of his allegiance to the 
British Crown. From the moment a man is bom in this coimtry 
he owes allegiance, he is a subject" — 

Prisoner — "If that is so, why am I charged with bringing over 
foreigners — John O'JMahony is no foreigner. 

The judge then sentenced him to ten years' penal 
servitude, upon which Captain O'Connell said, "I 



•miuumiuMUimaimmtBsauimaam 



tfiihiii,.ar^- 



402 



DECLARATIONS IN THE DOCK. 



hope tliere will be an excliange of pvisoners before 
that time." 

JouN B. S. Casey -(vas arraij^ned for treason-felony 
at the Cork Commission, 29th December, 1865. Mr. 
Casey ^vas a yonng man originally from Mitchels- 
town, who went to Cork and became a clerk to Mr. 
Geary, "whose house," said tlie Solicitor-General, 
" was 'the rendezvous of the principal conspirators." 
He contributed to the Irish Fcojjle over the signature 
of " The Galtee Boy," and several of his communica- 
tions were read as evidence of his offence— love of 
country. Though there was scarcely any evidence, 
save that of the perjurer, Warner, who even had the 
' brazen-faced effrontery to swear that " the purpose for 
-which he gave information against Casey and othera 
was to put money in the pocket of Mr. Butt, Q. C," 
his then cross examiner— the prisoner was found 
guilty, with a recommendation to^ mercy. In reply 
to the usual question, Mr. Casey said : - 

"My lord, I have only to say that the evidence sworn by that 
unfortunate wretch, Wai'ner, against me, from beginning to end, 
is a tissue of most foul peijuries, and that I solemnly profess, be- 
fore God, I never attended any of those drill meetings which he 
swears I did. His assertion is an unfounded untnith, and so also 
i. his statement about the conversation between Geary and mc. I 
bave to say the same with respect to the swearing of the police- 
man JIacaulev. He never saw me writing— he could not— nor did 
I address a letter to him. I firmly believe that,, from beginning to 
end, he has slated what is untrue. I have also to protest,^ m the 
face of the world, against this vile system of jury packing " 

Mr. Justice Fitzgerald would not allow the prisoner 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETTE8. 



403 



to slander anything appertaining to the Court of Jus- 
tice. 

The Prisoner — "I have only to say that I protest against having 
been tried by that jury." 

Sentence, penal servitude for five years. 

Michael O'Reoah was tined at the Cork Special 
Commission, 30th December, 1865, on a cliarge of 
Fenianism, and with having attempted, on tlie 2d No- 
vember, to swear in as a Fenian, at Castletownsend, 
one Hallilian, a petty ofBccr on board her majesty's 
ship Hastings. O'Regan, who was about tliirty years 
of age, had recently returned from America. The 
Attorney-General said lie was fully armed witli all the 
implements to carry on the work of the brother ; the 
" implements " found on O'Regan being, " a Roman 
Catholic prayer-book, a circular issued by tlie Wiscon- 
sin State Convention of the Fenian Brotlierliood, a 
book on musketry, a driU book, an account book, with 
some mysterious items in it, a seditious song book, and 
an apparatus for making cartridges." The prisoner 
was found guilty, and in reply to the usual question, 
said : 

" I will only say a few words, and I will be entirely responsible 
myself for them. I do not want my speech or remarks to injure 
any one else. "With regard to the approver or informer, I will 
only say that wliat he has sworn is entirely false. It is veiy 
singular that one who drank in a room, four feet square, could not 
see him going out of it— veiy strange ; so that you should not be- 
lieve the words of any iuforiuer w^hatever, because they are not 
only informers, but liars and tiaitois, and are a disgrace to the 



404 



DECLARATIOKS IN THE DOCK. 



country in wliich they live. They would as soon act as Kara and 
infoi'mere agahist any one else. With regard to what your lord- 
ship said about my going to America, I hare to say I did not go 
there at the time stated in that paper of citizenship. I am over 
eighteen years out of this countrj', and came back to it over ten 
mouths. I love my country — I will not conceal it— ever since I 
was forced to leave it from oppression. Your laws would not 
allow me to live here, and I had to go to America. I saw a few 
scraps of the late trials. They were remarks made by the Attor- 
ney-General" 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "We cannot allow this. Tou must con- 
fine yourself to the question ; have you anything to say why sen- 
tence should not be passed on you ?" 

The Prisoner — " I wish you would allow me to say a few words. 
There is more tnith in what I say than in what the informer said." 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "You cannot serve yourself by the course 
you are about pursuing." • 

The Piisoner — "I will only say I love liberty. I see the peo- 
ple of this countiy are oppressed " — 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "We wiU not listen to any observations of 
that kind." 

The Prisoner — "I wUl say no more then." 

Their lordships then retired, and after the lapse of 
several minutes, returned into court. Mr. Justice 
Keogh passed sentence, penal servitude for seven 
years. 

Prisoner — " I am very glad you got done. I don't expect to be 
long inside." 



John Kinnealt, yho was tried at the Cork Com- 
mission, M-as found guilty on Tuesday, 2d January, 
1S06 ; sentenced to ten years' penal servitude. On 
being convicted, the prisoner said : 



FKNIAN HEROES AND MAKTYES. 



405 



"My lord, it la scarcely necessary for me to say anything. I 
am sure, from the charge of your lordship, the jury could find no 
other verdict than has been found. The verdict against me has 
been found by the means by which political convictions have been 
always obtained in this country. As to the informer, Warner, I 
have only to say that directly or indirectly I never was in the same 
room with him, nor had he any means of knowing my political 
opinions. As to my connection with Mr. Luby, I am proud of 
that connection. I regret neither it nor anything else 1 have done 
politically or otherwise. (Murmm^ of applause)." 

James O'Connor, bookkeeper of the Irish People^ 
was brought to trial on the 8th January, 1866, in ' 
Dublin. He was charged with conspiring to depose 
the Queen and to move foreigners to invade Ireland. 
The Solicitor-General undertook to show that he 
acted otherwise than as bookkeeper. He was found 
guilty, and, in reply to the clerk of the Crown, said : 

When this proceeding commenced he had no intention of ad- 
dressing any observations to the court on the act of his having 
been found guilty, which appeared to him very probable from the 
first. However, he wished to state, in reply to the question put 
to him by the Clerk of the Crown, that he thought his case had 
not been clearly proved, at least not to his own satisfaction ; but 
that had nothing now to do with the matter. There was no doubt 
that the verdict of the jury hinged entirely on the documentary 
evidence. He saw that before he came forward for trial, in the 
letter which was \vritten to him, and which he thought went 
strongly to induce the jury to find him guilty, was that one ad- 
dressed to him by Morrisey. Now, it was not very easy, in those 
trials, for the prisoner to contradict most of the evidence given 
against him. He was not in Ireland at the time that letter was 
received in the Irish People office, and he never saw it till he 
saw it in the information made out against him. With regard to 



^'-■^^':^«»**'Mh'^=^fa? i *tii«'fflam 



406 



DECLAJKATI0N3 IN THE DOCK. 



tlie loltor Tvhich he WTote to Daniel Conncll, he considered that he 
was bouati to reply to it. That letter had not been addressad to 
him, and in the absence of O'Douovau it was his duty to reply to 
any lettera addressed to him. There was another letter on which 
his case rested to which he desired to refer. He did not remem- 
her seeing the letter which it was stated was written by Stephens 
to him. He had alluded to the fact that it was very difQcult to 
contradict evidence in this case, or any other case, and he thought 
the Crown should always prove clearly the charges preferred 
against the person placed on his trial, and that it did not rest on 
the prisoner to disprove statements made against him. His lord- 
ship, in his charge to the jury, said that the handwriting had not 
been contradicted. That was impossible to do, bscause, in fact, 
ever}' person who could disprove his handwriting was at Ihat mo- 
ment in prison. His lordship also stated that he was no stranger 
in Dublin, and that he could easily have got persons to do so, if 
he could disprove his handwriting. Now, he was, he might say, 
a stranger in Dublin, for although he had hzen born in tliia city, 
he had been out of it nearly all his life, so that it was impossible 
for him to get any person to give evidence to contradict that state- 
ment as to his handwriting. In reference to the same fact, he 
would apply himself to the evidence of Nagle, who managed 
always to swear what could not, by any possibil'ty, be contradict- 
ed, and it was quite clear that he had studied his evidence very 
haid. Nagle said that the meeting at Phibsborough was a Fenian 
meeting, but it seemed to him (the prisoner) that it was not, 
because nothing about Fenianism was spoken at it. Every man 
he refeiTed to was in jail, so that it would be impossible for him 
to get any person to prove an alibi. He wished to state that he 
considered the line of defence pursued by Mr. Butt was the best 
he could adopt, and, on the pait of the Crown and that of his own 
counsel, he thought each did their duty. The Solicitor-General 
asked the jury what were they there for; and he himself, in the 
same breath, answered that they were there in the pursuit of truth. 
He hoped he would be allowed to concur in the statement that all 
these trials were cairied ou in the pursuit of ti-uth, and he con- 



FENTAN HER0E3 AND MAETTES. 



407 



ceived that there was one clear truth established in the course of 
these trials, and that was that Ireland was an unhappy country, 
but the cause of it he would not then stop to inquire mto. Ho 
would not detain their lordships by making any further obseiTa- 
tion, for when the trial commenced he had no intention of address- 
ing the court. 

He was sentenced to penal servitude for seven 
years. 

Cheistophee Mantis O'Keeffe was arrested on the 
18th September, 1865. On the arrest of Luby there 
were found in his possession several letters purporting 
to be addressed to him by a person named O'Keeffe, 
and .which were supposed to have been written by a 
member of the Fenian conspiracy. Mr. O'Keeffe did 
not belong to the Fenian organization, but wrote occa- 
sional articles for the Irish People. Although not in 
the Brotherhood, he was a man of national sentiments, 
and had been Irish correspondent of the Boston Pilot. 
Mr. O'Keeffe was brought to trial on the 11th Janu- 
ary, 1SG6, and found guilty the next day. Alluding 
to the " violent and eccentric " letters brought against 
him, the Nationhm^ : " Dublin litterateurs who know 
the man well are quite convinced that, beyond the 
writing of those curious letters, he had no connection 
with Fenianism. He put his own case remarkably 
well in his address to court previous to the passing of 
sentence. He had lived by his pen— he had to write 
for his bread— and this circumstance might naturally 
be supposed to influence, to some extent, the tone of 
his contributions to any particular journal. It shoidd 



408 



t)ECL.VEATlCLTi IN THE DOCK. 



not, lioM"ever, be suppos-ed fi-om those remarks of his 
tliat he Avas ready to \rrlte any class of opinions on 
being ^laid for so doing. His feelings were with his 
country, he detested tie misrule to which she is sub- 
jected, he hated the fore:;.'ner3 who are masters in this 
land, and he was incapaMe of writing or speaking in 
a contrary sense. He was a good Gaelic scholar, and 
his English style was ter.-e and vigorous. There wasj 
indeed, a vein of geniug in the man, and it cropped 
out in his address to the covirt. He was sentenced 
to ten years of penal servitude." 

• 

CoKNELins O'MAHOifT was brought to trial on the 
12th January in Dublin. It was continued the next 
day. The jury disagreed and was discharged at mid- 
night ;" whereupon the Crown prosecutors gave notice 
that they would bring the prisoner to a second trial 
on Monday moniing. Mr. Butt, astonished, said, " Do 
you mean the prisoner O'Mahony ?" 

Mr. Barry — " Yes, We are determined to put him 
oa trial again on Monday morning." 

Mr. Butt—" That is very hard." 

Accordingly, on Monday, the 15th, Mr. O'Mahony 
was again put on his trial. He was found guilty, and 
in reply to the formal question, said he had merely to 
say, he was convicted on insufficient evidence. 

Mr. Sidney, Q. C, asked their lordships to respite 
sentence until the decision of the question as to the 
discharge of the jury on Saturday night last. That 
question was pending in the case of Charlotte "Winser, 
in England, 



fe:sian iiEnoEs and ■M.viiTms. 



409 



Mr. Justice Keogh said they could not accede to the 
application, and then passed sentence of five years' 
penal servitude. 

Cornelius DwTER Keake, who had been liberated, 
on bail, was brought up a second time, tried 17th Jan- 
uary, 1866, and found guilty of having engaged m 
the" Fenian conspiracy. Mr. Keane was a native of 
Skibbereen, and it was charged that he was intimately 
acquainted with O'Donovan (Rossa), that he told Ste- 
i,hens he had himself sworn in four hundred Fenians 
in the nei'^hborhood of Clouakilty, and attempted to 
swear in two others. Nagle, the informer, certified to 
Keane's having attended Fenian meetings at Plubs- 
borough road, Buckingham street, and Great Bruns- 
wick street. Previous to the sentence Mr. Keane 
said: 

"I did not intend, up to last nigbt, liaving myself defended by 
counsel at all, for I did not believe there was justice to be had for 
any prisoner charged as I was in this country. I was fully con- . 
vinced of that after the Cork trials; for not alone are the prisoners 
own acts brought against him, but the acts of others, of wb.ch he 
was not even cognizant. Moreover, the judges, instead of benig, 
as they ou.-htto be, impartial between the Crown aud the pri- 
soner are more the advocates for the Crown than impartial judges 
of the ca^e A letter has been pxit in evidence against me from 
Mr J. O'Donovan (Rossa). He was a fellow-townsman of mine, 
and I am proud of his acqu.intance. The name of Stephens has 
been mentioned. I beg to say I have always boasted, and will 
coutiuue to boast to the last hour of my life, of bemg honored 
with Mr. Stephen's acquaintance and friendship. I do not believe 
I have been guihy of anything I should be ashamed of. As an 
Irishman, I was bound to join m a combination which was banded 



410 



DECLAEATIOKS IN THE DOCK. 



together for the good of Ireland— not for assassination or plunder, 
ns has been falsely nsserled. TUe statement of the witness as to 
shooting was entirely false. 1 never said I intended to shoot any- 
body, and it was fastened on lue by the Solicitor-General at the 
instigation of Sir. Barry. The Solicitor-General would not have 
stated it but that Mr. Barry prompted him to do so," 

The Solicitor-General — -"That is not tme." 

Prisoner — "I saw Mr. Barry talking privately, making some 
suggestion to you, and j'ou then alluded to that matter, wh^ch, as 
1 have said, was entirely and purely false. Now, my lord, I have 
ouly one request to make, and that is, that you will not give me 
any advice or lecture, as you have done to the other prisoners. I 
ask you simply to pass sentence on me, and give me nothing in 
the shape of advice or lecture, for I assure j'ou it wobld be lost 
npon me." 

Mr. Justice Fitzgerald fully agreed with the verdict, and thought 
the prisoner not only hardened, but beyond the eHect of mercy, 
for he was no sooner liberated on bail in Cork, than he forthwith 
went to Dublin and attended treasonable meetings there. "Toil 
appear," said he, '"to be hardened and determined to persevere in 
this criminal course." 

Prisoner — "Most decidedly." 

Mr Justice Fitzgerald — " It is useless to address any advice to 
you. I shall, therefore, at once pronounce the sentence of the 
Comt, which is, tliatyou be kept in penal servitude for ten years." 

Martin Hanly Caret was brought to trial on the 
IStli January, 1866, and was found guilty Mitli a 
strong recommendation to mercy. In response to the 
usual question, he entered on explanations as to 
whether a man was a Catholic or a Protestant, when 
Mr. Butt suggested he had better not say any more. 

The Prisoner — "I must justify myself about my religion. It 
lias been introduced into these trials upon some occasions. Ever 
since the Cr.5t trial, the comisul fur the prosecution " — 



FEKIAN HEROES AND MAETYItS. 



411 



Mr. Justice Koogh—" I do uot B;e what you have to do with 
other trials." 

Tiie Prisoner—" Do not think I entertain any disrespect to the 
Court. Certainly I couUl have pleaded guilty if I wished, and got 
oft' with two years' imprisonment; but I lilce my freedom, and 
really tho inducement that has been brought to bear "— 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "I cannot allow that." 

Tin Attoniey-General— " I feel bound to say that there is not 
a particle of foundation for that." 

Th3 Prisoner— •" It is not about any one belonging to the Crown 
I sp-ak. It is connected with the press. In the FrecmarCa 
Journal th3 prisoners are described as honorable men, which they 
are, though poor, and it describes them as men baitcring with the 
Crown for their own purposes." 

Mr. Justice Keogh— "I will uot hear observations no way con- 
nected with the question." 

The Prisoner — " AU I can say is if I outlive the sentence of the 
Court I will act my part as a man, independent of the anathemas 
or denunciations of any bishop or priest." 

IIg was sentenced to live years' penal Borvitudc. 

Daniel O'Connell, a native of Toomavara, County 
Tlppcrary, was tried at the Special Commission, Dub- 
lin, January 23d, 1866. 

The principal evidence offered against him was his 
having written, under the signature of " A Spiritual 
Enliglitener," a letter to the Irish People, in which 
he said that he believed it to be necessary that Irish- 
men should bind themselves to fight for the independ- 
ence of their country. He hr.d also written to 
O'Donovan (Rossa), inquiring how he could procure 
some works on military drill, and the best medium 
tlu'ou'vh which to obtain an Enfield rifle and a Colt'a 



412 



DECLARATIONS IN THE DOCK. 



vevolrer. Wlieii arrested a ilrill-book was foTUid on 
his person; and n pass-book, containing the names of a 
Jimnber of men, with ciphers appended to each name, 
Avas found in his desk, lie was found guilty and 
sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labor, 

."WrLT.iAAi FiiAXcis RoANTREK was brought to trial, 
in Dublin, for treason-felony on the 23d January, 
ISCG, and was found guilty on the next day. On 
being esked had he anything to say why sentence 
should not be passed, he replied : 

"I did not think it possible that any jury could bring In against 
me a veixlict of guilty ; guilty of conspiring, when it must have 
been clear to every unprejudiced man that it was the Crown con- 
epu-ed. After an absence of seven years, I returned home from 
America. I was set upon by one of the Crown officials, and I 
was publicly denounced by one of its preachers as an infidel. I 
wish it to be known, and generally known, that no matter who or 
what he is, no one can hope to live in Ireland except he be a 
Schoficld or a Nagle. I was set upon, as I have said; every word 
of mine was misinterpreted and distorted in the hope of finding 
soine excuse for my aiTcst. Finding none, Nagle was set upon 
me, and I was arrested upon his information. I am now, after 
four or five months' close imprisonment, asked, after a few little 
preliminaries, what I have to say why sentence should not be 
passed upon me. Would any word of mine avail me now ? I 
am your prisoner, powerless, fur the" present, to do anything more 
than appeal, as au American cili/.cn, against your sentence, not to 
any pm-English-Americiin Consul, but to the givat American peo- 
ple. I have, as an Irishman, done ray duty to my country, but 
my only rcgi-et is that I have not it in my power to do a great 
deal more. There is one thing more I would like to dwell upon 
— namely, the insane document refeiied to by Judge Keogh. It 
was Nagle hauded me that docuiueut and said to me, '^ what do 



FENIAN nEi:0E3 AND MARTTES. 



413 



you think of it?" IIow was it possible I could get such a docu- 
ment as that from any of the convicts in Mouiiljoy ? As an Irish- 
man, I appeal against your sentence to the Iiish people, and I pray 
that the God of Justice and Vengeance may guide and strengthea 
them in their holy determination." 

The prisoner was then sentenced to penal servitude 
for ten years. 

Patrick Hetburne was next tried, on 24th Janu- 
ary, 1S66, at Dublin. The Solicitor-General stated 
the case against him, and laying great stress on the 
evidence which he would produce of arms found in 
the prisoner's shop, and also a letter to Major-General 
Thomas F. Meagher, which was very patriotic in 
seutimeiit and coucltided with this toast : 

"To the memory of General Michael Corcoran, one of the 
noblest and best of men, whether considered as an Irishman or as 
an American ;' and may we all bear a part in fulfilling, under the 
dauntless Meagher, the two dearest hopes of our heart — the res- 
toration of the American Union and the liberation of Ireland — I 
am, sir, your obedient sei-vant, 

"PATRICK JOHN HEYBURNE, 
"Emmet Guard, Fenian Brotherhood." 

Mr. Ileyburne was found guilty, and Judge Keogb 
urged him to be silent, or if he should speak, " not to 
make an exhibition of himself." 

The Prisoner — "I will not, my lord." 

Mr. Justice Keogh — "I give you that advice with veiy anxious 
molives, and perhaps it would be better to leave the case to the 
end in the hands of your counsel." 

Jlr. Sidney and Sir. Lawless entreated the prisoner to say 
nothing. 



.■■i^*,.,^W.V.^>.^.^.-,^^«Mi!J|^^j^|f)^f,,j..^^_^ 



414 



DECLARATIONS m THE DOCK. 



Tlie P."iso:-.(T — "I imiRt pay a few worcb, my lord." 

Jlr. Ji'.slko Kcnjii— "Tiu'ii you must confine yoursdf fllrrcly 
to cay i;i matter of law why sonlence bIiouM uot bs passcil upou 
you." 

Tlic Prisoner — "I w'sli to 6ay a few wor(l3 only; I cniiiiot but 
return tluuiks to tlie able counsel, because I believe there arc no 
lioncsler mcu or abler counsel at the Irish bar wlio could say any- 
tbinj in my favor. Tliey have argued ably in my delencc, and i 
can Eay not'iin^ about Ibem. I iiavo liad a very fair trial. 1 bad 
honest men on my jury, I believe tliat, for I Icuow men on tiie 
jury iiiyscir, and 1 cauld lay my life iu tlicir bands. I liaJ uot 
iul ended to say anytlihig at a'.l in my belialf until yesterday. I 
never be'.icvcd I would have been found guilty. I noviir believed 
I -would until l!ie ruled paper was brouglit against me. If I was 
standing before God I would say that ruled form was never in my 
possession. If 1 was on the scaflbld, willi tlie ropo round my 
neclt, I would say that ruled form was never iu my possession. 1 
had nothing to do with it. There was nothing in the evidence to 
find me g;uiUy until that ruled form was produced. When that 
ruled form was brought iu it found me guillv, and no other way. 
Indeed, by law of Eiigland, I know that the crime entails upon 
me a severe penalty. I'he histoiy of Ireland " — 

Jlr. Justice KeogU — " I will not liear a word abotit the history 
of Ireh'.nd. I i)roceed to announce to you the sentenco of the 
Court, because my delaying any longer would only allow you to 
plac3 yourself in a very fake position." 

The Prisoner — "Iwisliyou to pass penal serviludo upon mo. 
Do not giv^ me two years imprisonment, for I would suffer mora 
if I got two years in that prison than if I got penal servitude." 

1\U: Justice Kcogli then pasrcd sentence — that ho 
ho inipfisoned and kept to hafd labor for two years 
fi-om the date of his committah 

Tlie Prisoner- "I will have the same principles, my lord, 
nftcr wards." 



FENIAN nER0E3 AlTD MAETYES. 



415 



James Flood was tried in Duhlin on a charge of 
treason-felony, on Satnrday, 27th Jannary, 1S66. Ho 
was arrested while casting bnllets, and " treasonable 
docninents" were found in his possession. He was 
fonnd guilty, and in reply to the clerk's question, 
said : 

■ "My lord, I came from England only a few days before my ar- 
rest, and the pamphlets were handed to me in the street, I called 
to tills place where I was arrested to see young O'Niell, as I 
knew him before I went to England. I don't know anything 
about the Feuian BrotherhooiL Of course, however, according 
to British law, I must be found guilty. 

He was sentenced to five years' penal servitude. 

HuGii Fkancis BKoroT, who wtiB captured in 
Stephen's house, was brought to trial in Dublin on the 
29th January, 18C6. He was accused with being one 
of the most trusted workers in the conspiracy, and a 
number of letters were brought against him, as well 
as his intimacy with the leaders, and of his being 
present at Mullingar when an attack was made on a de- 
tective (Smollenj. Mr. -Butt made a very eloquent 

address in his defense, and Judge Keogh advised the 
jury that they should not allow the brilliant effort to 

awake their compas^rion, or influence their verdict. 

Mr. Brophy was found guilty ; and in reply to the 

usual question, said : 

" I only wish to make a few remarks in reference to something 
that passed during the trial. The detective Smollen made a state- 
mcnt-a very serious one if it were true— against my character 
for manliness. To those who know me, there would not be any 



416 



DECEAEATIONS Hf THE DOCK. 



necessity to reply to that ; but as there are a great many -who do 
not know me, I wish to tell how it occurred. I met Jlr. Roan- 
tree ou the race-course at MulUngar, and I may have ix)uned out 
to bim, or he may have pomted out Siuollcn to me. In the evening, 
as we were coming towards the traiu, there were two men mc-t 
me — one a veiy young fi-iend of mine, and another man. Before 
I had time to know who they were, one of them stnick Smollen, 
who was then with his back to the wall, and they in front of him, 
thongh he slated he was struck from behind. I was beside the 
platfoiTO at the time, and as he was against the wall they could 
not have got behind him. I did not interfere in the row at all. 
Smollen then came forward, stniek two or three men with a large 
stick he held in his hand, when the young lad, my friend, ran 
over and struck him \\')th a small stick. I laughed at the idea of 
liit striking with a small bit of a stick a man who drew a large 
stick with a knob on it. When I saw that, I pushed the crowd 
out of the way, seized Smollen, and tried to take the stick from 
hiiu. In the tussle we both came to the groimd, and two or 
tbree of his friends then took him away. That was the end of it 
iVs to Carty, I never heard the words which Smollen swore to here. 
I did not leave the platfonn at all. Dawson says he saw me a 
couple of times a week going to the Irish I'eople office; that, too, 
is not correct. I certainly went very frequently there, but be 
swoi-e that for four months before the seizure of the paper he had 
not seen me there, while, when before Sir. Stronge, he swore he saw 
nie there about two months before. That was a great contradic- 
tion. I lived in Constitution-hill ; was building at Frankfort ave- 
nue, and I had therefore to pass thi'ough Parliament street, and in 
that way the mistake must have occurred. Dawson said he had 
not taken notes of the times he saw me passing, so that he was 
only guessing when he said he saw me going into the office a 
couple of times a week. Then, again, as to those boolt', with the 
revolvers, the}' were found on the chimney piece in the room, and 
not in a drawer; so that the police made a mistake in that also. 
As to the getting up of the paper, of course I had to do with that, 
and I was chairman of tlie committee meeting ; but I do not see 
'what that has to do with levying war agamst the Queen. When 



I iiifft-^-"*-'-^-"- 



FENIAJ^ HEKOES AND MAKTVES. 



417 



I assisted in getting np the paper, I did not see that it had any- 
thing to do with the levying of war against her. I always as- 
sisted in everything got up for a national purpose. As to that 
letter where the 6th of June is mentioned, _ in charging the juiy, 
you said it leferred to my going to Mullingar on the Sunday fol- 
lowing. I was for a fortnight before that in Mullingar fishing, so 
that it could not be me that was mentioned in it, and if so, there 
could be no agreement about my going there. As to O'Leary, he 
was a workman of mine, but he had a dilTerent name when he 
was with me. When he was an-ested, Murphy was the name he 
went by. As a workman, I thought it my duty to look after his 
defence. I spoke even to Mr. Curran about getting bail for him, 
and he told me it was not the slightest use. I mentioned that to 
my counsel, and I thought evidence might be given of it. I had 
not the least doubt of what the verdict would be when I hearfl 
your charge to the jury; there could not be a particle of doubt 
what it would be after your charge. In fact you never advanced 
a smgle argument m my favor, and ti'om what has transphed in 
these°trials, fi'om the first of them down to the present tune, I 
must confess, as far as the people are concerned, I feel proud of 
them." 

Mr. Justice Keogh— " We cannot hear more of this." 
Their lordships then retired to confer together, and on the re- 
turn of Mr. Brophy con-ected some misstatements ; and Judge 
Keogh took the occasion to remark: "You say you are proud of 
the men who were brought to trial here. What is that but re- 

^°'prisoner— "Imeantthe people, my lord— the people outside." 
He was then sentenced to ten years' penal servi- 
tude. 

Patrick Doran was tried, with Thomas Francis 
Biivlce, for participation in tlie insurrectionary move- 
ments in the County Dublin in JIarch. He was funnd _ 
guilty, and in reply to the question of tlie Lord Chief 



418 



DECLAEATIONS IN THE DOCK. 



Justice, " lias the the prisoner, Doran, anything to 
say ? — replied : 

" My lords, I have not got miicli to say. Of course, I could 
not follow the same strain of eloquence that my countryman and 
fellow-patriot expressed himself iu. But I, alao, am consigned 
to an early gi'avc — cut off in tlie vi.t;or of manhood by falschooda 
sworn here — false as God is true. In relation to Sheridan, he sat 
there with a smile on his countenance, and swore that I com- 
manded the riflemen, or iu other words, acted as aid-de-camp to 
the conspirators who were under Lcnning — whoever Lenning is; I 
do not know. He also stated that I demanded the surrender of the 
ban-ack at Glencullen in the name of the Irish Republic. [Here the 
prisoner looked around court.] There are men, who are present, 
■who could give another account of that ; but they were rfot called 
on that table to prove my innocence. I never spoke to him, good 
or bad, that night — never said one word to him, or to any of them 
— I was not there at alL My meeting with Meares was merely an 
accident. He is a man I never saw or know before. But I for- 
give them, as I hope Glod will forgive me. I have to say no more. 
I return my heartfelt thanks to my eloquent counsel, who so ably 
defended me, and also to my solicitor, Mr. Lawless. That is all 
I have to say." 

He received the same sentence as Colonel Burke. 



Martin A. O'Beennan was arrested on the morn- 
ing of Thursday, 12th October, 1SG5, at Tuam, and 
immediately conveyed by constabulary to Dublin. 
On the next day he was brought before Mr. Stronge, 
at the Lower Castle Yard. It was charged that on 
the 30th September previous, in a newspaper, entitled 
the Connaught Patriot and General Advertiser, of 
which O'Brennan was sole conductor and publisher, 
thei'e was, among other seditious articles, onein wliich 



FENIAN HEROEa AND MAETTR8. 



419 



it was said "let the American Fenians return and 
that such was treasonable and intended to stn- up 
foreigners to invade Ireland and "separate it from the 
United Kingdom." The Crown prosecutor read from 
an article headed "Alleged Feniamsm m th^ Army 
in which Mr. O'Brennan, commenting on the te e- 
gram announcing the arrest of a Sergeant-major and 
a soldier in Cork for Feniamsm, said : 

..It is rumored, that Fenianism has extended ^^^ 
amongst the soldiers of the line, f Constabulary.^ a^^^^^^^^^^ 

;;:L to Ve peo^-^th. the m-dit^y andpeople are no longer 
under allegiance.— Ed. C. P. 

The Crown counsel thought a more mischievous 
piece of treason could scarcely be c'-ulated as i 
ntending to convey to tl- niinds of the people t^^^^ 
Feniani^n had widely extended amongst the soldiers 
and militia. 

The prisoner's counsel requested the magistrate to 
accept bail, which was declined. - 

Mr O'Brennan-" It is my duty to assist the learned counsel in 
, ...that it may appear that an aggression is made upon 

' n .v'bvl cZn Here is an article, no maUer who 
"'\ • ani he charge is laid at my door by the Crown: 



•^'"■-'rihirniiiiiMmfr"'"'"'-"^'^'"^*'''--'-'-™'-' 



420 



DECLAEATIONS IN THE POCK, 



for aud to rule it.' Not seeking to sul)vert tlie power of the 
Queen or of the Englisli govermneut, but saying tliat wliich the 
Couscj vativcs are quietly allowed to do— to subvert Whig neglect, 
aud to establish a rightful rule iu Ireland " 

Sir. Curran — I thiuk it would be a great deal better now, Mr. 
O'Brer.nnn, if you would just sit down and say no more. 

SIi-. O'Breunan — " I am subject to you, sir ; but I must protest, 
when I find the Crown acting with so much virulence as to take 
me from my large family of nine or ten, and stick me up into no 
belter thrn a water closet last night, and keep me from three 
o'clock yesterday morning, to half past nine o'clock this morning, 
•n ithout any refreshment. It would well become the Crown to 
say — how ia this man treated ; or why should such an aggression 
be made upon the right of the subject as has been made 
upon me. If it occuiTed elsewhere the Attoiney General or 
Crown Solicitor would be the first to denounce it as barbarous and 
savage, and a portion of the tyranny that has been earned out in 
other countries ; but here when it is exercised upon a subject of 
her Majesty, there is not one word at all against it." 

The magistrate committed the prisoner for treason- 
felouy and thought it did not become him to answer 
the statements made by the latter, who was then re- 
moved to Richmond Bridewelh 

Mr. O'Brennan was tried at the Commission, and lib- 
erated November, 1865, on his own recognizance, but 
towtirds the close of March, 1866, after the suspension 
of the IIi(heas Corpus he was again arrested at the 
railway staiion in the to^m of Claremorris, on a 
charge of seditious language, and thrown into the 
county jail of Mayo. He was subsequently released, 
ami came to America, where he arrived in October, 
1867. 




FENUN.UEEOES AUD MAETYES. 



421 



SWOBD AND PEN. 

Back to Amclca. Arreted. John K. ^^Z' G^Vl-n^I'vlnX. Ia Ka- 

rir^^'^F^re Jr!''°lnera. F.iola-L.t of Sc.oot-.a.t«™ 
Active Fenians. 

Cattain John A. GEAET.-Educated, brave, cool and 
decisive in tl.ne of dattger, Captain Geary .s a true 
type of the band of Irish officers whom the Femau 
Brotherhood will ever re.nember with pnde Bom 
S he County Lhnerick abottt the year 1842, he catne 
o this country with his family, while yet a boy, and 
• t rted in KenLcky. On the breaking out of the war 
Le tlisted as a private soldier, axtd, by h. brawy 
and good conduct, attained the rank of Capta.n long 
befot^ hostilities ceased. At the conclusion of the 
creat Atnerican coitflict, his first thonght was to give 
his military experience to aid the liberatmg move- 
ment in the land of his birth. Through his exertions 
a fine Circle of the Fenian Brotherhood was formed 
in Lexington, Ky., and, under his direction, it became 



422 



SWORD AND PEN. 



one of the most efficient in the organization. He 
made earlv application to be placed on the roll for 
active uMlitary service; and, when called upon, he 
pro.nptlv reported in Kew York, fully prepared tor 
duty, without the expense of a dollar to the general 
Oro;anization. He went to Ireland, and, on his arn- 
vaC ^\as assigned to duty in Limerick. A short thne 
previous to the " Habeas Corpus Suspension Act,"' in 
February, 1866, he was ordered to Dublin. When 
the Government covjp d:etat, took place on the 17th of 
that mouth, several of the Irish- Americans were at 
once arrested in their lodgings. Luckily fdi- Captain 
Geary, he had left his lodgings early that morning. 
Duriag his absence three of his fellow-officers, who 
stayed at the same house, were arrested ; on bcmg 
informed of which the Captain determined to go 
southward by the evening train. Arriving at the 
railroad depot, he found several policemen and detec- 
tives on the lookout for " suspects." This brought 
the quick wit of our hero into play. Touching, with 
his foot, a large trunk lying on the platform, he authori- 
tatively inquired for its owner; that individual appear- 
ino-, he was ordered to open the trunk at once, and 
the assumed detective occupied himself busily exam- 
ining its contents until the train was just starting, 
when, having expressed himself satisfied that it con- 
tained nothing "contraband," he coolly stepped on 
board the train, as if for the purpose of watching or 
examining parties thereon, and was carried oif from 
nndcr the very noses of her Majesty's vigilant detec- 
tives. 



FENIAN HEE0E8 AND MAETTRa. 



423 



The second day following found him in the streets 
of Newcastle, County Limerick, where a rencontre 
occurred, in which Geary's decisive, soldierly traits 
were well illustrated. A six-foot sergeant of police, 
named Sullivan, observing onr hero alone in the 
vicinity of the barrack, thought it a favorab e oppor- 
tunity to distinguish and recommend himself for the 
lona--coveted Sub-Inspectorship, by capturmg s.ngle- 
haifded one of those detested " propagandists^ of 
American ideas." Confidently walking up to the Cap- 
tain he claimed him as the Queen's prisoner ; but this 
was a slight miscalculation. Geary had gone to Ir^ 
land prepared for snch little contingencies He did 
not think an Irish-American officer, who had faced 
death on so many bloody fields, shonld be captured in 
the streets of his native town by a solitary peeler; 
the combined honor of Limerick and old Kentucky 
forbade it ; so, drawing his revolver, he, not caring to 
kill the fellow, sent a bullet through the shoulder of 
the aspiring sergeant. The first shot not disabling 
him, another near the same spot levelled him, and 
then, after a single glance in the direction of the bar- 
rack the Captain made for the neighboring mountains. 
The'efi-ect of Captain Geary's lesson was, that the 
police always went in sqnads when attempting the 
capture of a Fenian officer, especially if he wore 
" square-toed boots." _ ■ 

On arrivinc^ in the mountains, Captain Geary re- 
ceived temporary shelter in a turf stack, provisions 
beiu- conveyed to hhn at night. After the laj^e o a 
few days, he was provided with more cointortable 



"'r'lniil 



424 



6W0ED AUD PEN. 



qiiartci'3 iu tlie house of one of tliose patriotic Irisli 
})rieBt3 wlio form the great majority of the clergy of 
the people ; the acts and assertions of the " Queen's 
Ecclesiastics " on the one hand, and flippant, ignorant, 
self-proclaimed atheistical freethinkers on the other, 
to the contrary notwithstanding. In Captain Geary's 
case the character of the true Irish priesthood was 
nobly sustained. For, knovTing his history, and hon- 
oring the bravery and humanity displayed in the ac- 
tion which caused him to be proclaimed an outlaw 
with a price on his head, he was, for the six weeks 
during which he remained in Ireland after the event, 
sheltered exclusively by members of their order. Ho 
attended a funeral in their company in the guise of a 
priest, and finally left L'eland as a youthful mission- 
ary, being accompanied by several of his clerical 
friends on board the ship, who left him with fen'cnt 
prayers for his safety. The pistols, which stood him 
in such good need, he left in charge of a priest until 
the time arrives for again using them in the good old 
cause of liberty and fatherland. 

Captain Geary arrived safely in Kew York in the 
latter part of April, when he at once reported to John 
O'Mahony. Some members of the Canadian party, 
then maturing their plans for the raid across the fron- 
tier, meeting the Captain, ofiered him a Colonel's com- 
mand in the expedition. Not wishing to identify 
liimsclf with that party, he declined the proffered 
honor; but, on relating the occurrence " he expressed," 
says an informant, " the intention of taking part in 
the movement should it be actually made; as, well 



^■v..i-..fj.^j-i.».'ilrj.,.ai.-.^M.an..y.«. 



FENIAN HEROES AND MAETTEfl. 



425 



knowing from recent experience, that a successful 
rising in Ireland was impossible for some time, he was 
willing to devote part of the interim iu striking a blow 
at the upholdei"s of the ' Felon Flag ' whenever an 
opportunity offered." Acting on this resolution, he 
was present at the battle of Ridgeway, was among 
the officers captured with O'Neill by the United States 
authorities, and now hopefully looks forward to the 
uplifting of the green banner on the old soil. 

Captain James Mitrphy came to this country ■when 
a boy, and after a time he enlisted in the United 
States army, in which he served his full term, and was 
discharged. On the breaking out of the war, he 
re-enlisted in the 20th Massachusetts Volunteers, and 
fought his way up from the ranks to a captaincy. He 
was v/ounded at the battle of Ohancellorsville, and 
placed in the Veteran Reserve Corps, from which he 
resigned at the close of the war. In the fall of 1865 
he visited Ireland for the purpose of recruiting his 
shattered health, was an'ested in Dublin at the tinae 
the Iri^h People was seized, but claiming his Ameri- 
can citizenship, he was released after a week's impris* 
on men t. 

The authorities claimed that Murphy "con- 
tinued to engage actively in promoting the interests 
of the organi*;ation — going down frequently to 
Athlone, Mullingar and elsewhere throughout 
the country, for the purpose of swearing in mem- 
bers and otherwise forwarding the movement." 

He was consequently arrested again on the suspen- 



426 



BWOKD AND PEW. 



sion oftlie Habeas Corpus Act, and ^^^orl^y a^^v 
.vards v.as sought to be uv.de the victnn ot a v>l am- 

ous conspiracy. He ^^ ^^^^' '^''^'^^'f^, 
tcr from the British army, removed to a military 
prison and tlicrc sobjecVed to atrocious tyranny. _ 
^ At his trial by court-martial suborned perjuiers 
swore to his identity, but the real deserter appearing 
as evidence in his favor, and his certificates of mil a- 
rv service in the United States army having been pio- 
duced, he was acquitted. On his discharge, however 
he w:4 immediately rearrested by the detectives ( vl o 
were on hand for that purpose) and conveyed to 
Mountjoy prison, where he remained until the 23d 
December, 18G6, when, after ^n incarceration of 
eleven months, ho was liberated. Captain Murphy 
•brought an action for false imprisonment against his 
xnilitarv persecutors, but they got the tVKil postponed 
and he arrived in America 5th- January, loG7, to de 
numd the protection of the American Government 
while prosecuting his claim before the law courts m 
Ireland, to whicli country he intends returning as 
Boon as he can be assured of this protection. 

John K. Casey, known as a young writer of fine 
promise by his contributions to the nationa press, 
with the signature of "Leo," has an additional claim 
on the affections of his countrymen from the perse- 
cution his talents have brought upon liim. He was 
arretted on the 13th Marcli, 18G7, at Castlerea and 
lod-ed in the County Jail of rcoscommon. ^Ir. Casey 
■ i3 the author of a volume of national poetry, entitled 



riCNIAK 11KE0E8 AND MAR'rYKB. 



427 



"A Wreath of SliamroclvS, Ballads, Songs and le- 
gends" publisiied in Dublin, which was received 
by the critics and public with merited favor. It is 
no Binall testimony to the young writer that his tal- 
ents overshadow his politics in the eyes of English 
critics, while the Irish journals admire and indorse 
both his music and his nationality. Tlie London 
lieview thinks' it not an "unpleasant " book " for all 
its taint of treason." 

" And here," continues the Review, " we might re- 
mark, accepting the 'Wreath of Shamrocks' as the rep- 
resentative of the opposite side to ' Orangeism,' that 
where the latter is rabid, stupid, and nonsensical, as 
exemplified in the poet Young, in the former treason 
is put in a fascinating, tolerant and intelligible shape, 
wliich would by an outsider render it incomparably 
preferable to the loyalty of Orangemen. Of course, 
the Saxon comes in for it, but no Saxon could leel 
over-vexed at being railed at so eloquently in his own 
language, and in a manner which demonstrates that 
the'genUeman indulging in it must have been a sound 
student of the authors Avhose countrymen he curses 
as Kehama cursed." 
The Nafwn truthfully says of these ballads and 
■ Eom's: "Always true to the national sentiment, re- 
flectin'T a genuine spirit of patriotism, inspired by th3 
tender" and heroic memories of Irish history, and by 
that n-lowinT hope which no misfortunes or reverses 
have 'been Tble to extinguish in the Irish heart, mu- 
sical in their flow, clear and graceful in their expres- 
Bion, those ballads, songs, and legends will be a source 



428 



BWOKD AlfD PEN. 



of real plc.isuro to nil who feci liow deeply tlic na- 
tiuiial sjiirit ol' this eoniitry is iiidchtcd for its Bustftia- 
inciil a.id intensity to the popular national poetry." 

John Tx)CKE was born in the aneicnt little town of 
Calhin, County Kilkenny, about nineteen years ago, 
of humble parents, wlio gave their son as good an 
edueatioii r.s tiie village seliool afibrded. He was a 
great favorite with liis eehdolinates, on aeeount of his 
innate kindness of heart; and his attention to his 
Btiidies and natural smartness made him a great 
favorite with his teaeher. After some time he was 
appointed to the ofllec of National Sehool Assistant; 
but although he had a Government situalion, he could 
r.ot resist the appeals of natioiuilily. Wlien his day's 
work was done he met the " malcontents of Bridge 
street," among whom were Dunne, the nailer, "of 
parliamentary renown," Edward Coyne, James Cody 
and others. Young Locke wiis an early riser, and his 
mornings before school lioura were devoted to tlie 
■ niuses. A great lover of the beauties of nature, he 
has interwoven in liis songs the impressions made on 
him by the surrounding localities. Our young poet 
found inspiration in the scenery by which ho was sur- 
rounded — in the traditions ass(jciatcd with them in' 
the history of his comitry — in the miseries of the peo- 
ple, lie entered with enthusiasm into the doctrines 
of the Irish People^ and became a contributor to that 
jom-nal. On its seizure he wrote for the Irishman, 
under the nom de jdm'^^^ of " The Soulliern Gael," 
and Bubseciuently was arrested and sent to jail. 



FENIAN HKU0E8 AND MARTYE8. 



429 



Early in 1807, a so-called "Council of Ten" were 
captured in Csimden street, Dublin. Their names 
were given m follows: Henry Hughes, Francis Holly- 
wood: he had a six-barrelled revolver in his i)0SBe3- 
sion, was said to be a prominent Fenian, and one of 
"llughc-i' ca])taiM8." Joseph O'llara, he liad two for- 
miflablc looking revolvers in his posscBsion— one with 
nine chambers— and both loaded and capped. John 
'AValsh, reported to be "high in the organization, doing 
the duly of emissary in communication between dis- 
liictB and circles." Owen Martin, another " B." 
James Martin; also " B." Thomas Cullen, John Law- 
less, a pronuncnt member. Arthur Foi-cster, a book- 
keeper, whose career was " pretty well known to the 
police." He was a sub-centre for the ]\fanche8ter dis- 
trict, and had been extensively employed in the Or- 
ganization. He was one of the contributors to the 
Irifh I\'()j)le, under the name of" William Tell" and 
" An"-us," and was in Dublin in 18C5, under the name 
of Thomas Brown. He fled belbie the Ilahcaa Corpus 
act was BU3i)cndcd. He went to Chester in command 
of the Manchester men during the demonstration 
there, and th<,n crossed over to Dublin— also in charge 
of them— where they were arrested on the ICth Feb- 
ruary. After being a short time in custody he was • 
relciised on account of IiIb youth, and permitted to go 
at large. " It wiis," says the report, " this young fel- 
low who offered the desperate resistance, and tried to 
shoot the olliccr who waa Btruggling with him, and 
two constables were obliged to knock him down and 
wrin"-hi8 revolver from him. When disarmed he said 



"-TUftiiiaiir"'"-— -'■^"■^°°°" 



430 



8W0ED AND PZy. 



tliat all lie regretted was that lie did not slioot tlie offi- 
cer — that he did not care Mhich of the two went to 
hell or heaven, but that either shonld. This prisoner 
was also known to the police as a companion of Baines 
in tampering with the allegiance of soldiers, particu- 
larly those of the 30th regiment." 

General Faeiola was arrested iu the Summer of 
18G7. On being brought up for the second time, 
July 29th, before the police magistrates, at the 
Lower Ciistle Yard, Dublin, the prisoner wis given 
a seat, as he suflered considerable pain from a bayonet 
wound in his left leg. He said he was not in a con- 
dition to procure legal aid. Informations were read, 
one from the wretched Massey, who deposed that 
General Octave Louis Fariola came to Ireland to take 
part in the rising, and that he was introduced to him 
iu Loudon by General Cluseret, who said he was to be 
chief of staff. Witness was the deputy of General 
Cluseret, under whom the rising on the 5th of March 
was to be made. 

Other informations having been read, the prisoner 
was asked whether he had anything to say in defense. 
He replied, " I cannot say anything on such meagre 
evidence as has been produced against me. There la 
no evidence to show that I was one of the conspira- 
tors. I therefore have nothing to say, and I think I 
should be discharged." Col. Lake said, "The magis- 
trates are of opinion that your comjilicity with a rev- 
olutionary movement has been established so far as to 



FEKIAB UEEOES AOT) MAnTTRS. 



431 



make it imperative on them to commit yoti for tnaL" 
He was then formally committed. 

National Schoolmasters and rENiANisM.— By a 
return to an order of the House of "Commons, dated 
the 8th of March, 1866, of " all schoolmasters arrested 
in Irelaud for Ribbonism, sedition, or Fenianism, from 
the 1st of January, 1860, to the latest date ascertain- 
able," we learn that the total number of such arrests 
was thirty-four. Of these thirty-one were charged 
with Fenianism, two with Eibbonism, and one with 
sedition ; and the entire thirty-four appear under tho 
description of national school teachers. Their names 
and the schools to which they were attached are given 
thus: Thomas Doherty Brougham, Tipperary; Mi- 
chael Hyland, Galway; Daniel Darragli, Ballycastlc, 
Antrim; Patrick Mulligan, Manooney, Armagh; 
James Cheevers, Glynn, Carlow; Thomas Duggan, 
Ballincollig, Cork, E. ; Jeremiah Gleeson, Kuockna- 
gowna, Cork, E. ; Cornelius Sullivan, Blarney YiUage, 
Cork, E. ; William Conway, Passage, W., Cork, E. ; 
James Leary, Carrigtoohill, Cork, E. ; Michael Cro- 
nin, Rosnacahara, Cork, W. ; James Lehane, Lishecn, 
Cork, W.; Deelan Monsell, Skull, Cork, W.; Ear- 
tholoinew Brien, Cooscroneen, Cork, W.; Patrick 
Murphy, Cahergariffe, Cork, W.; Patrick O'Donncll, 
Arramore Island, Donegal; John Magee, Dromore, 
Down; Daniel Kelliher, Killarney, Kerry; James 
O'Crlln-han, Ballyhane, Kilkeany; Arthur Goii, 
LeitrlmrLeitrim ; Wm. Wall, Kilmallock, Limerick ; 
William Abitt, Phillipstown, Louth; Henry M. Cur- 



ifiiiSiiM&i^s^si^i.:^!/^ 



e^ii^i^-3:?^i.MiA;J^k«:^^ 



432 



6W0ED AND PEN. 



ry, Bclcarra, Ma3"0 ; John Diifiy, Lisanislca, Mayo ; 
James Hyland, CroES, Maj'o ; John Flanagan, Balna- 
barna, ^feath ; Edwaitl Roche, Tedoo, Monaghan; 
Patrick Erien, Tubercurry, Sligo ; Michael Cleary, 
Clerihan, Tipperary, S. ; John Dwyer, Tipperary, 
Tippcrai7, S. ; Patrick M'Gninness. Crowenstown, 
Westmeath ; John O'Toole, Coolquarry, "Wexford ; 
Hngh Byrne, Kingstown. 



FUNIAU HEEOES AKt) MAKTYEa. 



4S3 



DARING ESCAPES. 

John Kirwan— In Papal Brigade— An Active Fenian Centre— WonBdcd at Tal- 
lahgt— Arreated-Placed In the Meath HoBpiUl— His Escape from it. Colo- 
nerLeonard Takes Part in the Drogheda Rising— Mysterions Appearance In 
a House, and Escape from it— Arrest of Colonel T. J. Kelly and Captain 
Dacey in Manchester— Remanded— Crowds in Court— Driven off in the 
Prison Van Handcuffed and Guarded by Police-The Police and Mob De- 
feated—The Van Broken Open and the Prisoners Released. Wild Excite- 
ment Captain Dacey. Captain Lawrence O'Brien-Goes to Ireland-Ar- 
rested-Committed for Trial-Bold and Mysterious Escape from Qonmel 
JaiL 

Allusion lias already been made to the escape of 
Stephens from Richmond jail, and the daring attempt 
of Noonan to escape from his captors. There are 
other instances of adroitness, enterprise and daring 
which distinguish the pursuit of Fenianism under 
difficulties, and which call for honorable mention. 
The successful adventure of Stephens has been eclipsed 
by those which followed. 

John Kirwan, a Dublin " Centre," became widely 
known by his " mysterious" escape from the hands of 
the eueiuy. Mr. Kirwan had been in the Dublin po- 
lice, and left it to join the Papal Brigade, in which he 
served, like many others who have become able Fe- 
nian propagandists, with honor. On his return he 



434 



DARING ESCAPES. 



Obtained a mercantile situation in Dublin and soon 
:^ he was appointed, tl-o^f-^-Moc. mflue^^^^^^^ 
to the position of turnkey in the Four Courts Debtui. 
Prion Subsequently he left the prison, and wa. ^ 
appointed ranger by the Grand Canal Company In 
September, 1865, orders were given for his arrest but 
h Contrived to keep out of the way,_and, up to Apnl, 
1S67 to evade his pursuers, although it was well known 
thit he wa. takhig a most active part m the Feman 

orcranization. . . » -M-„vf.^ 

lie took a prominent part in the nsmg of March^ 
and received a severe wound in the rencontre m the 
Tethborhood of Tallaght. He was -rested on the 
Gtlf April in a house in Bihsop street, and w a. taken 
bcfofe'Dr. Carte, who committed him for tnal on a 
ILre of high treason. When brought before the 
nitrates it was stated ^that the prrsone. .a. one 
of Ae persons who made an attack on the Stepaside 
Itabulry station on the night of Shrove Tuesday^ 
ThTs statement, was, to a g^^at extent eori^borated 
by the fact that he ^as badly wounded in the breast 
by a rifle bullet which had passed4hrough him to the 
Ivicle, which it fractured." His wife was in atten- 
a^nce, Ind as she was in a delicate cond^on, and as 
ber husband was in a dying state, she Pegged the 
nac^istrate to have the latter sent to one of the hos- 
pitals of the city where he would receive proper med- 

"IriT Kuan's character stood very high in the 
estimation of influential persons, his wifes request 
las complied with, and instead of being sent to the 



FENIAK HEROES AND MAETYR9. 



435 



prison infirmary, he was ordered to the Meath Hos- 
pital, where every attention was shovm to him. Kir- 
wan was well known to be a most determined and. 
. daring man. He had, on two previous occasions, ef- 
fected his escape, and the authorities gave special di- 
rections that he should be most closely watched, and 
two policemen were appointed to guard him night 

and day. 

His health was exceedingly feeble; but the authori- 
ties now declare that this was a pretense. On Tues- 
day evening, the 9th April, about half-past seven 
o'clock, the police constable, in charge of the pris- 
oner, left him for a short time to get a draught iu 
the apothecary's room. The policeman was ab- 
sent about seven minutes, and on his return found that 
the prisoner had escaped. The room in which Kirwan 
was confined is situated in the corridor«of the acci- 
dent ward, and when the constable left, the invalid 
made a dash for his life, and saved it. How he got 
out is one of the " mysteries." He left with nothing 
on but his shirt and drawers. It is thought that ho 
made his way into Long Lane or Camden Kow, where 
there were confederates to assist him. As soon as his 
escape was made kmown, of course there was pei-plex- 
ing excitement. Kirwan, however, made his way to 
America, and has taken up his residence in New York. 

The escape in July, 1S67, of the Fenian Colonel 
Leonard, who participated in the insurrectionary move- 
ment iu Drogheda in the March previous, created a 
..-rcat deal of excitement in that town. The circumstan- 



436 



DABUja KSOAFES. 



ceswerea. follows: A respectable professional gent e^ 
L!n-toLls astoniBlxmeut-discovered a person mtlie 
.pper part of his bouse, with heavy beard and an aj. 
pearance altogether resembling Colonel Leo-rd. On 
he gentleman'6 approach, the stranger Aed <lown 
s^f towa.-dB the kitchen, and on his P-^ t^-^« 
^as observed by two other gentlemen, friends of the 
proprietor of the house, who also had an opportunity 
of recognizing him, a« his photograph l^-d ^f^n ex- 
hibited since March in all the stationers' windows 
of tbe town. The owner of the bouse sent for a po- 
liceman, who happened to be on beat near the house, 
Bub-constable Gannon. On the arrival oi the latter^ 
and having learned the particulars, he ^v^s about pio- 
Sng to the kitchen to arrest the fugitive, but wbb 
stronX recommended not to do bo alone, but provide 
more^/en, as, if he went by himself, he would certam- 
Tbe shot, for the other party was no doubt armed 
^ith a revolver. Gannon, who was a man oyer six 
feet in height, and of resolute comage declmed to 
Sve the stfanger a chance to escape, and determmed 
Spon arresting'him ^^--^^ ^e accordingly pre. 
ceeded to the kitchen, but lo! the prisoner had fled by 
tbe back door into the garden; and now comes per- 
haps the most mysterious aflalr. A door near the 
centreof the garden, which leads out to the street and 
"hich had not been for a long period of time used for 
T^assln- in or out, was found opened, and the stranger 
Sn; How the fugitive had provided himself with a 
I y was and is a " perplexing mystery." Several houses 
in the town, on which suspicion rested, were smce 



FENIAN HEEOES AKD MAETTE9. 



437 



searched, without a successful result. Few incidents 
connected with Fenianism created more gossip in. 
Drogheda. 



On the 19th September, one of the best planned and 
most ably executed deeds was accomplished in Man- 
chester, the great centre of English manufacturing 
industry. On the 17th, two days previous, the police, 
more by accident than intention, fell in with and cap- 
tured Colonel Thomas J. Kelly and Captain Dacey 
in that city. The American accent, the revolvers 
found on the prisoners, their anxiety to use them, all 
combined to persuade the Manchester constables that 
they had caught — perhaps — a Fenian leader. The 
thought struck them that one of them might be Colo- 
nel Kelly. The informer, Corydon, was immediately 
needed to indentify him; but, although that_ blood- 
hound had been in Liverpool striving to scent Kel- 
ly, he could not be found. This caused delay, so 
that when the prisoners were brought up a second 
time for examination, a Yurther remand was necessary 
— waiting Corydon and a warrant from the Lord Lien- 
tenant of Ireland. . The following account, which ex- 
hibits the fearful excitement of the occasion, and the 
ability by which the affair was conducted, is condensed 
from an English journal, the Manchester Times, 21st 
September : 

" After the remand was granted, the prisoners, who 
gave their names as John "Wright and Martin Wil- 
liams, were removed to the cells below. The court 
was densely crowded, and it was observed that the 



438 



DAJtlNG ESCAPES. 



greater number of those present took an intense in- 
terest in the proceedings. A number of strangers 
crowded the corridors and the open rooms below the 
court. After the court adjourned, those persons re- 
mained, and by the time the van arrived, three o'clock, 
the narrow street in the rear of the court house was 
filled by an excited thi-ong. A considerable force of 
police was told off to keep the van clear. Mean- 
while, the attention of a Superintendent had been 
called to two men of soldierly appearance, who had 
been seen lounging about aU the morning. An inspec- 
tor and constable went forthwith to arrest them,. One of 
them made off and escaped. The other, a taU, pow- 
ful man, made a desperate resistance. He drew from 
his breast a long-handled, loose-springed knite, which, 
on the blade being thrown forward, became a for- 
midable dagger, the spring tightening with a click. 
The inspector seized his prisouer by the wrist, and 
while he was in the act of wrenching the weapon out 
of his right hand, the fellow aimed a fearful blow with 
his left, which caught the constable full in the eye, 
"■ Some more constables came upon the scene and com- 
pleted the capture. The man was searched and hand- 
cuffed. ' A few minutes afterwards the prisoners, in- 
cluding Kelly and Dacey, were marched between a 
double row of constables to the steps of the van. A. 
murmur rose from the crowd as the prisoners, who 
■were in handcuffs, were placed inside the vehicle. 

« The prison van then proceeded thi-ough the city in 
the direction of the gaol. The van was divided into 
separate compartments, each intended for a prisoner. 



FENIAN HEEOES AKD MAKTTR9. 



439 



The two Fenians, together with several women and 
young boys were the occupants of the vehicle, which was 
accompanied by eleven policemen — seven besides the 
driver upon it, and four following in a cab behind ; 
four were on the box ; two behind, and Sergeant Brett 
was inside the van in the middle compartment. The 
van proceeded quietly until they arrived at the rail- 
way arch, on the Hyde road, near the clay pits. Tlie 
officers in front noticed a crowd of men, the majority 
of whom were anned with revolvers. This crowd 
was composed of men dressed, some in cloth and some 
in fustian ; but there were not many in the garb of 
workingmen; the majority seemed better dressed. 
They appeared to be acting in concert, and a Fenian, 
named Wm. O'Meara Allen, acted as leader. The 
moment the van approached the arch Allen shouted 
to the driver to stop. Th's was followed by a volley 
of pistol shots. A policeman incited the driver to 
drive on. Simultaneously, however, the Feuians in 
front fired at the near horse, and shot it through the 
neck, and the driver was knocked off his box. A mo- 
ment afterwards the other hoi-se was also shot. Sev- 
eral of the officers narrowly escaped being shot, and 
only saved themselves by ducking their heads. Tlie 
progress of the van was effectually prevented. About 
twenty of the assailants formed a cordon round the 
van, and kept the police at bay. Several bystandei-s 
joined with the police, and made a rush ; but they 
could do nothing against a score of desperate men 
with loaded pistols. In the meantime, the remainder 
of the gnng had attacked the van. They were armed 



""^"^'f ri Nilif 4"iBf ni MiJY- "'■ ■■^- ■ ^--i-^-:ia;^--iia^-'* 



.j ,^. ^.' -f::ii;:yiicz&i^MsiiiiijauKi;^kkJ3^ 



440 



DAEnra escapes. 



with hatclict'?, hammers, and stones, with which they 
tried to force an entrance. The van, wliich was a very 
strong one, reaisted their efforts, till at last a party of . 
the men managed to haul a very large stone upon the 
roof, and soon pounded the top of the van 
into chips. The door was by this tiin^ nearly forced 
open, when the leader, who had a pistol in each hand, 
put one to the lock, fij-ed it, and burst the door open. 
The gradually increasing crowd of spectatoi-s had, in 
the meantime, made several charges, but were easily 
defeated by tlie occasional firing of pistol shots. The 
police are of opinion that some of the pistols were 
not loaded with ball, for several times, when they vi^ere 
fired point blank, no effect followed. One of the 
bystanders was shot through the ancle, and one of 
the policemen from the cab, who came up to assist 
the others, received a shot in the back. The leader, 
Allen, was seen to fixe five shots at the van before it 
was burst open. When the door was forced, the 
leader called to the prisoners to come out. They 
were, of course, locked up in their separate compart- 
ments. The leader then asked Brett for the keys, but 
he refused to give them, upon which Allen fired. 
Brett was shot in the head, the ball entering the eye, 
and coming out near the top of the hat. Brett stag- 
gered out of the van as soon as Allen had possessed 
himself of the keys. Allen then released the two 
Fenians, and the whole party decamped across in the 
direction of the Ashton Eoad. 

"Allen was seen going along in the company of 
Kelly, and he was heard by the bystandere to say, 



FENI^iJT HEEOES &SD ilAJBTYES. 



441 



Kelly, I will die for yoU.' Some young men in the 
crowd gave chase. Allen, with one or two others, 
continued their flight over the fields. At Ashton 
Eoad, a police-constable joined the chase, and captured 
one of the party, named Michael Larkin, of Eliza 
Street, City Koad, Hulme. Another young man, 
named Hunter, of Pendlebury, ran down Allen, and 
laid hold of him. He resisted violently, and threat- 
ened to shoot his pursuer with his revolver. Hunter, 
however, who was a powerful young fellow, closed with 
him, wrested the pistol fi-om him, and struck him with 
it several blows on the head, causing a very ugly 
wound. Other' assistance then came up. Allen was 
identified by twenty or thirty witnesses as the leader 
of the gang, and the man who entered the van aiid 
shot Brett. 

" From the statement of eye-witnesses, we are enabl- 
ed to add further details. A very acute looker-on, who 
lives near the railway arch, had noticed a number of 
strange, suspicious-looking men loitering in the neigh- 
borhood all the morning. Some of them visited the 
neighboring inn, ' The Kailway Hotel,' from time to 
time, and then went across the road into the unen- 
closed field along the line of railway. They were 
stiffly-built men, and some of them looked as if they 
had been soldiers. One of them was rather taller 
than the rest. He was a fair complexioned man, with 
a black coat and cap. He appeared to be^he leader. 
Our informant felt sure that ' something was going to 
happen.' About four o'clock he was so occupied 
with watching the men, that he did not see the prisou 



442 



DABDJQ ESCAPES. 



van when it was coming up the road. lie saw the 
tall man standing with ten or twelve others on a bank 
of clay on the opposite side of the road. lie put up 
])i> liand, and several other men who had been loiter- 
ing about joined those on the bank, making the num- 
ber from fifteen to twenty. The tall man, who acted 
as Ca]3tain, then drew a revolver, which looked like a 
new one, and it shone in the light. The other men 
at once did the same. All the pistols were quite 
bright. At this moment the rumble of the van was 
heard, and the leader stepped into the middle of the 
road, raised his revolver, and fired. As abcfve-stated, 
while some of the assistants kept back the constables 
and the crowd, others surrounded the van and began 
to break a way into it. A woman was among the 
first to get out. Afterwards a tall man with a dark 
moustache (Dacey) came out, and then followed a 
short, thick-set man (Kelly). Both of the men looked 
as if they were still handcuffed. Nearly all the as- 
sailants crowded round, and whilst some of them hur- 
ried across the unenclosed fields, others remained 
behind and fired more shots. The firing seemed quite 
at random, as if there was now no wish to wound, but 
only to keep the police at bay. 

" The excitement which followed the report of this 
battle was indescribable. In reply to the Mayors 
telegram, the Home Office offered a reward of £300 
for the recapture of Kelly and Dacey. The Manches- 
ter Corporation also offered a reward of £200 for the 
capture of those who took part in the rescue. An- 
nexed is the official description of the two principal 



FKNIAJS HEE0E8 AITO MAKTTE8. 



443 



fugitives:— 'Colonel Kelly, 35 years of age, 5ft. 6m. 
hi<rh, hazel eyes, brown hair, brown, bushy whiskers, 
small scar inside right arm, scar over right temple, 
one tooth out of upper jaw on right side; a native of 
Ireland; weighs about 160 lbs. Captain Dacey, 29 
years of age, 5ft: lOin. high, swarthy complexion, 
hazel eyes, dark brown hair, brown moustache, whis- 
kers shaved off, proportionate make, scar on left 
cheek, near to the ear.' 

" The country was scoured in all directions dunng 
the night, and before eleven o'clock twelve to fifteen 
arrests had been reported from different places in the 
neighborhood. The last that was seen of Kelly and 
Dacey was near Clayton Bridge. They were seen by 
some brickmakers to go into a cottage, they then 
being in handcuffs. When they came out their hands 
were"free. When the constables overtook Allen he 
was already in custody, and had been severely stoned 
about the head and body." 

« It is ascertained," says the Times, " that the pri- 
son van was preceded, on its way from the court in 
the afternoon toward the gaol, by a cab contammg 
several of the assailants, who joined those who had 
previously been seen loitering about the railway arch, 
and who appeared to take the command." A writer 
to the Irishnmn gives it as the " one opinion" of the 
terrified town. " that the most daring, well-planned, 
and resolute plot that ever startled England has been 
accomplished by the thirty men who gathered that 
day under the railway bridge at Hyde Eoad." 



444 



DARIKG ESCAt'ES. 



CAPTAtN TiMOTHY Dacey, tlie Companion of Colo- 
nel Kelly in tlie Manchester rescue, was bom in the 
town of Clonakilty, County Cork. lie came to this 
country at an early age, and settled in the city of 
Lawrence, Mass. On the brealdnc; out of the war, 
he enlisted in the Massachusetts 'Ninth, fought gal- 
lantly through the campaigns, was promoted to the 
o-rade of a lieutenant, and was seriously wounded at 
the battle of the Wilderness, but refused to leave hia 
command until the fight was over. Among all the 
noble spirits that embarked in the cause of Irish na- 
tionality during the last few years, there wtre none 
nobler than the unpretending Dacey. He went to Ire- 
land September 2d, 1865, from the Lawrence Circle, of 
which he was a member, reported at Skibbereen, 
Tvas arrested on suspicon a few days after the seizure 
of the Irish People, and was kept in jail for two 
weeks. On his release he remained in Clonakilty for 
a couple of months, when he was ordered to Dublin. 
He remained there until April, 1866, and had a very nar- 
row escape from arrest on the morning of the suspen- 
sion of the Hahem Corpm Act ; getting out the back 
way, as the authorities entered the front. Captain 
Dacey was next ordered to England, and located 
in Livei-pool. Here he had another narrow escape- 
having actually had an interview with ISIajor Greig, 
who clme to search the house. After tlie famous res- 
cue by the Manchester men, Captain Dacey was sent 
to America, where he arrived on the night of Sunday, 
October 27lh. He was heartily welcomed by the 
Brotherhood, and was the recipient of a splendid pub- 



FEXIAK nEIlOES ANB ILVnTYRS. 



445 



lie reception and serenade on the mght of October 
31st, at the Metropolitan Hotel, New York. _ ^ 
On the same night the escape of another pnsoner 
from iail helped to concentrate public opinion on the 
5:,^ and Ltennination of ^.e/enians. Ca^^ 
Laurence O'Bneii is a native of Nenagk The state 
tr Zt he was in the police force is ei^oneous. He 
emigrated with his family to America about the year 
1859. He subsequently entered the ^-^^^^'C 
which he won distinction, and was promoted to a Lap 
rai"cy He became a Fenian, and threw into he 
B otLl-o^ ^^i^ ■"-^^'^ intelligence and great activ- 
ftv He went to Ireland early in 1867, accompanied 
^\ 1 Thomas F Bourke through Fethard, Clonmel 
""^r^^r:^^^^^^^^^^^^^ o.' the ^Sth February 
iu the vicSty of the latter place. He was discharged 
for wlnTof sufficient proof, but rearrested soon at^^ 
u,X the iZaV^ Corp^i. Suspension Act. He r^ 
mtedt jail, on a Lord ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

" , he infonier Cory dou was confronted with 
previou. the intormc y ^^^^ „,„,e of Osborne 

the Drisoner — wlio nau guiic "J n'T-Jrlpn 

!:and identified him as Captain Laurence O Bnen 
Ind gave further evidence of his comiection with Fe- 

nianism. ^ ^ ^|^-,^,|, itVas 

O'Brien was conCnjd ma ecu 

ted by one solitary window, a large opening, pro- 
tSwUh double bJs of iron, set transversely, and 



;-^;^';;;'^^"l^rrinTiMiiff--"'-^^^-^''^^''^'-^'''""-^ 



446 



FENIiN HEEOES AKD MAETTES. 



emTjeddcd with lead into lieavy blocks of stone, llie 
outer door is of wood, sheeted and cased with iron ; 
the inner, a heavy iron gate, both well fastened out- 
side with double locks and strong bolts and bars. 
Into this cell the prisoner was locked at six o'clock on 
"VTedncsday evening, 19th September; and at about 
eleven the same night the governor of the jail, in tak- 
ing his accustomed round, visited the different cells 
with a turnkey, among others O'Brien's, and saw that 
the prisoners were in bed, and that all was right, and 
bi'ought the keys with him to his own room. At six 
o'clock the next morning, it was discovered that 
O'Brien's cell was untenanted. The prisoner had suc- 
ceeded in effecting his escape in the prison dress. A 
search was at once made through the prison, and in- 
formation was conveyed to the Royal Irish Constabu- 
lary. Mounted men were dispatched in different 
directions into the country districts, while other 
parties were engaged in visiting suspected places 
tlirough town — aU to no effect. Upon examining the 
cell, it was found that the lower half of the heavy 
iron grating of the window had been cut through in 
part with a file or some sharp instrument, the remain- 
der being forced by some means from its leaden 
socket, while one of the sideblocks of limestone had 
been broken in two, and the loosened part removed. 
Tlie iron grating and broken masonry were found in 
the cell, with the prisoner's hat, which was filled with 
pieces of cement and limestone ; also, a stout bar of 
iron, skilfully sharpened at one end, and tied round 
with cloth to protect the hand, and to lesson the sound 



DAEING ESCAPES. 



447 



while working. This bar was cut off from the iron 
support of the metal stove-pipe, which the prisoner 
had found means to procure or remove from its place 
at the end of the coi-ridor while passing to his celL 
There were found, in addition, some two or three 
pieces of rod iron, finely pointed ; a rude iron ham- 
mer, a knife, and a small coil of rope unopened. 
From one of the remaining window bars a thin rope, 
doubled, hung loosely, reaching some eight feet down, 
outside, the window itself being fully thuty feet from 
the walk below leading to the main entrance. By 
this means the prisoner is supposed to have lowered 
himself to a level with the iron gallery, or passage 
irom the press-room to "the drop," and, having been 
drawn across, if he had aa accomplice, or, which is 
just possible, having swung himself over to the pas- 
sage gallery— in which one of the sheets of the prison- 
er's bed was found, with the ends double-stitched 
together— he scaled the railing, crossed the roof of the 
gate-house barefooted, and got upon the parapet of 
the outside waU of the prison, from which it is be- 
lieved lie descended into the street, some eighteen or 
twenty feet, by means of another rope, which was also 
found hanging from one of the embrasures. His 
boots were°on the walk under his cell window, tied 
together, as if they had been hung across his arm, 
bu"t had slipped off^ It was a fine moonlight night, and 
the place where the escape was effected is not fifty 
yards from the Puchmond police barracks. Two of 
the constabulary had been on duty outside the door on 
their station up to one o'clock that night. 



448 



FENIAH HEROES Am> MAETTE8. 



The wildest conjectures grew out . of Captain 
O'Brien'a escape ; and, taken in connection witli the 
bold deed of the gallant men of Manchester, was well 
calculated to keep awake the fears and anxieties of the 
Government. 

" EEm'p HOPE." 

Considerable attention has been directed to tlie so- 
called " Fenian Privateer " and her cruise. The well- 
informed New York correspondent of the Irishman 
says all that may be said on the subject' at present. 
After stating that, when the news of the March rising 
■was flashed over tlie cable, a certain sum of* money 
was placed in the hands of Colonel James Kelly, Di- 
rector of Military Affairs, F. B., he continues: "Kel- 
ly at once purchased a neat little fast-sailing brig (he 
had not money enough for a steamer), aboard which 
he placed 15,000 stand of arms, with ammunition 
and accoutrements to inatch, in charge of thirty-five 
picked oflBcers, and started her off to Ireland— a pio- 
neer and forlorn hope (' Erin's Hope ' they called her) 

•• in command of the indomitable Captain , U. 

S. *Navy. These dai-ing men had not much hope 
even then of reacliing their destination in time to fur- 
nish the insurrectionists with the weapons they took 
with them ; but they insisted on risking their lives in 
order to solve a question which was of vital impor- 
tance for those who work for Ireland's redemption by 
force of arms, and the doubts upon which formed a 
serious obstacle in the way of Fenian propagandists 
here. The chief argument used by many opponents 



DAEING ESCAPES. 



449 



of Fenianism was, that it was impossible to clear Fe- 
nian vessels from any port in this country, either un- 
known to British agents or with the consent of the 
United States authorities. This, with the correlative 
argument that it was impossible for any such vessel, 
even though she had left these shores unspoken of an 
enemy, to pass the cordon of war ships with which 
England is supposed to surround Ireland — especially 
when Ireland is in danger of such invasion; those 
men, I say, were determined to deprive opponents to 
Fenianism of that argument at all hazards, and I 
maintain that they have dune it effectually. They 
did clear a vessel from a United States port ; they did 
*pass the cordon;' they did touch the Irish coast, and, 
in their devotion to the principle on which they had 
embarked, some of them did actually land on Irish 
soil in such a manner as to prove that' not thirty, but 
thirty thousand^ could have effected a similar landing 
before one-tenth of that number could be mustered to 
oppose them — even when your Government was as 
thoroughly (?) ' prepared ' for such an emergency as 
they claimed to be last spring. The passengers' of 
the ' Erin's Hope' not only visited Ireland, and slept 
iu Ireland, but re-embarked, ' passed the cordon ' f&r 
the fifth time, returned across the ocean, sailed quiet- 
ly and safe'y into this port, unshipped their cargo and 
stored it away into the Fenian armory in this city, 
disposed of theh- vessel profitably for the Fenian 
cause ; and, next day, set to work at their old avoca- 
tions, as if they had only been absent on a pleasure 
trip to the Paris Exposition ! So much for the iia- 



450 FEMAN nEK0E3 AND SUHTTKB. 

-p».M„ or .ndiBg »,^»™;j:^.^;fi„rdw 

Ameriean port to Ii-elaud 1 Hy the ^vay i 
n^entioned that ^vhen the news reached beretbat«.e 
<risin..' had been positively suppressed two other 

vS were being laden, -l^^- ^ '-"f^^d W 
^here I now write, with a similar cargo and bonna 
In a sLnar^^excurlion, but the work was, of course, 
discontinued." 

JOHN WAEREN ANU WILLIAM NAGLE. 

.ere arrested on the Ist J-f' ^^f '/.^f^.'.^^ff 
crossing theBlackwaterfromWaterfordintoYoughd^ 

ThPv were kept in Youghal until the morning of the 
It^^::^^weresn^toth^^^^^^^^^^ 
Ss '^^htla arS^erl Std distinguished 
hemtelves in fhe late war, were greatly i-e-ed and 
nsSted by such treatment, and commumca ed with 
hefr iatles and friends in tHs -u-^rm^e' 
the aid of their Government. As Colonel^ ^agle ., 
writing from jail, says: "This is not exclusively an 
andividual case, but becomes ^ q-estion of nght, m- 
.oiving the liberty of every American cxtiz n that 
lets fc^t on this soil. I ask the Government of my 
count^, which I have faithfully served, whose laws I 
have Sver violated, to secure to me that liberty which 
tmy birthright, and of which I am now deprived 
"ithout any cause or plea of justification, by an au- 
Aority I do not recognize-a government to which I 
!::: no allegiance, and whose laws I have in no way 
infringe"! upon." 



DAEING ESCAPES. 



451 



Colonel Warren wrote a statement of his case to 
the Hon. Fernando "Wood, who presented the matter 
in a very strong light to President Johnson. The 
President placed Mr. Wood's letter before the Cabi- 
net on Monday, the 20th August, and Mr. Seward 
was directed to confer at once with Sir Frederick 
Bruce, the British Minister, on the subject, and to reply 
to ilr. Wood. In his reply, Mr. Seward said: 

" The subject has already received the attention of 
this Department, which understands that those per- 
sons are citizens of the United States, and that there 
are no sufficient grounds to charge them with the 
commission of any offence against the laws of Great 
Britain ; and has good reason to believe that they 
have already been, or will without furtlier delay be, 
discharged." 

On the 23d of August Sir Frederick Bruce tele- 
graphed to his Government recommending the imme- 
diate discharge of Colonels Nagle and Warren from 
imprisonment, and sent to Mr. Seward a copy of the 
dispatch. 

On the 23d September, they were removed to 
Mountjoy prison, Dublin, and on the same day re- 
ceived a letter from Mr. Adams, United States Envoy 
at London, in which he says : 

" I have been endeavoring to do my best in your 
behalf, to secure you a trial, if not an absolute 
release. I doubt not it could have been accomplished 
before this but for the unfortunate revival of the ex- 
citement produced in the public mind by the late 
event at Manchester. I very much regret the suffer- 



452 FENIAN HEE0E3 AND MABTTE8. 

ing to wliicli you are subjected,^ and sbaU conlmne to 
do°all in my power for your relie£" 

Colonel Nagle takes the position which every spir- 
ited American citizen, native or adopted, mnst in- 
dorse, when he says : 

»I have not desired Mr. Adams nor Mr. West to petUion for my 

T -.^n tn receive as a favor what I demand as a nglit. 

TT\ om tuT Sm^l P^yBical and moral injury done me. 

fhl^rot^«-?tC-tlon involved, before whici. all pe^onal 

there is anoiner grea h renutation and character of 

pression and <^P"f "^^ "^^ ^^^^,1 „f ^U that man holds dear in 
thev mav chance to roam , aepnveu ui , . o ,t,., .11 

m^ II no redress! K so, let the fact be proclaimed, that all 

may act accordingly." 

^Notwithstanding the apparent interest shojra by 
our goverment, and the seeming good faith ot the 
Mh Mmister in telegraphing to h^s Govermnent, 
no hL bas been done in behalf of the outraged pris- 
oners The latest inteUigence concerning them was 
conveyed by . a cable dispatch of 2lBt October 

tatinl that 'they would be ^^ou,M^;fXZ:. 
Snecial Commission, to commence on the 25th, cou 
pLdwith the humiliating addition "it is said that 
?he United States Government will provide for the 
defence of Nagle and Warren." 

It is full time the people should know what is the 
meaning, of tlie phrase American Citizen, or if it has 
any meaning at all, and having a meamng, does it em- 



DAEING ESCAPES. 



453 



brace a distinction between, and a difference of pro- 
tectTon to, a native and an adopted " citizen^' If the 
Golemm'ent had its mind made up ^ '^ ^''^.ttl 
tutes a citizen and his rights, its Mmister and Con- 
sTin Great Britain would no doubt have shown some 
ptmpt dignity and decision, when the nationa senti- 
^eTt and character were outraged by the wanton a^- 
"esrand contemptuous treatment of American citi- 
zens so-caUed, both native and adopted. 



THE END. 



INDEX TO HISTORICAL INTRODUCTM. 



Act of Settlement. 14— Hepeal of, IB 

*' Agrarian Outrages '* 43 

American Agents in Ireland, — 

tlieir number 71, 73 

American RcTolntion emboldens 
Irieh Catholics and Preebyte- 

rians 23 

American Sympathy for Ireland. . 80 

Amiens, Treaty of .32 

Arrests In 1885 03,66,69 

Attorney-General, Iribh,boaet of, 03 
"Autboritics," rufUanism of the, 



to '9 



27 



AutUorities, panic among G5, 66 



Banks, a mn on, in Cork 65 

Banks, Hon. N. P., Introduces 
Eeeolutions of Sympathy ^vitll 
Ireland to House of Represent- 
atives 92, 95,96 

BoBwcU, reference to 30 

Buonaparte, 31 — Views on Ire- 
land, 32 — Abuse of, in Eng- 
land 31,32 

Bourke, Thomas Francis 88 

Brenan, Joseph 62 

Bright, John, M. P., on the Ha- 
beas Corpus Suspension, 73 — 
Places its responsibility on 
evil legislation for Ireland, 73 — 
Discusses the failure of Eng- 
lish legislation for Ireland, 74 — 
Denounces the Ministers, 74 — 
Declares that the Irish should 
not be content, 75 — Koebnck, 
on, 76— Speech at Birmingham, 
93 — Contradicts the Queen's 



Speech, IM— On tho English 
Chnrch in Ireland, 104— On 
Irish TranqnUity 104,105 

Burke, Edmund, on the Feool 
Code 10 

Byron, Lord, on the resnita of 
"The Union" SO 

O 

Camden, Lord, proclaims Irelanf 
under martial law K 

Campo Bello, futile attempt on. . . 81 

Canadian Party of th • F. B., 67— 
Heads off Stephens, 81— Dis- 
tracts tlje Fenian element, 81 — 
Futile offers of union with ... 91 

Catholic Cavaliers, base treav- 
meut of, by the Stuarts 14 

Churches bnmed by the 

authorities, 29 — Emancipation 
not all that was needed, 36 — 
Davis on, 37 — Peafantry but- 
chered, 31 — Rights, United 
Irishmen the advocates of... 86 

Catholics, English and Irish, 12 
— Their animosities, 13 — Ex- 

■ eluded from Parliament, 14— 
Humiliating position of, 23— 
Penal laws against, 10 — Wty 
they joined James II 14, 15 

Charles U 19 

Chester, Fenian demonstration 
on S3 

Clinch, Rev. Father, fights tho 
Enplisli at Vinegar Hill 28 

Coercion Bill 44 

Conflicts between the National- 
ists and the authorities, in 1848, 
at Slate Quarries, Mnllinahone, 



456 kd: 

Eillonanlc, Bd'.lingsny, Abbey- f 
feale, 48— At Portlaw Barracks, 
Glenbower, Scaagh, 4t»— At Wa- 

tcrford and Cashel 43, 50 

Congress, let Natioaal, of Fe- j 

nian Brotherhood, at Cliicago. ] 

B7 — Declares allegiance to the 
Constitution and laws of the | 

TInited States, 67— P^spect for ' 

Pins IX., 59—114, bale In Gin- • 

cinnatl, 60— Report of Mr. P. i 

Coyne to, 61 -lUd, held In Phil- | 

adelphia, 66— Report of Mr. P. I 

J. Meehan to, 66— New Constl- i 

tation, 66— Its resnlts, 68, 67— | 

IVth, held In New York, the 
largest representation of Fe- 
Idans that bad taken place, 68 
■ — Old Constitution restored and 
the Presidency abolished, 68 — 
Indorsed by Military Conven- 
tion, 68 — Vth, held In New 
York, 89— Its action ; Mr. A. A. 
Oriffio elected Execntive, 89— 
Vlth, held In New York, 105— 
' Twenty States and Territories 
represented, 106 — John Savage 

elected Chief Execntive 106 

Congress of the United States, 
Irish cause in, 94— Vote on.... 97 

Conolly, Mr, M. P 77 

Corcoran, General Michael 55, 60 

Corydon, an informer 82, 88 

Council, Central, of P. B. enlarged 

to ten 61 

Coyne, Mr. Philip, report on Irish 

affairs to 2d Congress 61 

Cromwell, la— His confiscations 13 
Crowley, Peter O'Neill 88 

ZD 

Dav^i, Thomas, the Centre of 
Young Ireland, 39— On the Pe- 
nal Laws, 18— Tributes to him, 
40 — Advantage over Tone 41 

Demands made on the American 
Irish 64 

Deniffe, Sir. Joeeph, Envoy of the 



P. B CS,e» 

Derby, Earl of, on the Irlph lead- 
ers In the Uouee of Lords, 46 — 
On Fenianisra 78 

Devotion of Irishmen to Irish 
Liberty 58,54 

Dickson, Rev. W. Steele, Adju- 
tant-General of UlPter 2S 

Difficulties of Irieh Nationalists 
in America, 54 

Dillon, J. B., escape of, 48 — 
Views in Parliament on the 
stiite of Ireland 76 

Dissenters, their position and 
views K3 

Doheny, Michael, opinion of Da- 
vis, 40— Escaped. 48— Taken 
out of jail, but gives himself 
np 49,53,68 

Dnffy, C. Gavan, opposes Mlt- 
chel's policy • 46 

Dwyer, Michael 84 

'82 and '98, 11— The Revolution 
of, 21— Effects of, 21— Tone on, 
21 — Concentrated power In the 
aristocracy 2S 

Eldridge, Hon. Mr., favors Fe- 
nlanlsm in Congrees 98 

Emancipation compared with 
Repeal 87 

Emmet, Robert, 81— Interviews 
with Buonaparte and Talley- 
rand, 81— His funds to make 
war, 35— His principles and 
energy, 85 -His late, 85— ThoB. 
Addis 81 

England, her danger In '98, 28— 
What she lost In '98 29 

English Church in Ireland, 104— 
Falsehoods on Irish tranquility, 
78— Dean Swift on, 79— Oovem- 
ment bewildered by the Fenian 
mystery, 61 — Government, Its 
hate of the United States check- 
ed by the F. B., 61— Interest in 
Ireland, 12, 13— The Suspension 



457 



of the Bahcat Corpus tho only 
'safety of, "72 

English legislation, celerity of, to 
sustain English interest, 78 — 
For Ireland, Bright on, 73— A 
poisonous medicine, 75 -Parlia- 
ment, Ireland In 98 

Extermination system of the 
English Government. 43, 44 

F 

Famine a great ally of the Eng- 
lish, 42— Years, infamous con- 
duct of the Government during, 48 

Fenian Brotherhood, Its origin, 
55— O'Mahony elected Chief of, 
65— Struggle for existence, 55 — 
Expansion of, 55— Its snstain- 
ment of the Union, 56— Neces- 
sity for reorganization, 56 — 
First National Congress held at 
Chicago, 57— Its objects and de- 
clarations, 57, 58— Not a Secret 
Society, 57, 58— Respect for the 
Pope and sympathy with Po- 
land, 59— The government of 
the Organization, 69 — O'Ma- 
hony resigns and is re-elected, 
CO— Effect of the First Congress, 
60— Growth of Circles, 60— Ef- 
fect of, on the English Govern- 
ment during the war, 61— 
Changes in the Constitution of^ 
61— Effect of the Organization 
In England, 62— Eariy difficulty 
of raising funds, 63— Its mys- 
tery a terror to the authorities, 
64— Spreads to Liverpool, Man- 
chester, Glasgow, 65 — Constitu- 
tion changed, and a President 
and Cabinet created, 66— O'Ma- 
honyelected President, 67— Dis- 
memberment of, 67— Restora- 
tion of the old Constitution, 63 
—Military Convention meet, 63 
— O'Mahony reinstated as Head 
Centre, 63— Continued excite- 
ment in Ireland, 03— Stephens' 
capture and remarkable escape 



from jail, 63— Lord Lieutenant's 
description of, 70, 71 — Pitiful 
alarm of the Government, 70, 72, 
73— John Bright on, 70, 72, 78— 
Meetings held in America on the 
Suspension of the Habta* Cor- 
pus Act, 80— Arrival of Stephens 
in America, 1806, 81— O'Mahony 
retires, 81 — Distracted by the 
Canadian Party, 81— Stephens' 
promises and failure, b2— His 
Military Staff determine on s 
rising— Col. T. J. Kelly directs 
affairs, 82 -Chester, betrayed 
by Corydon— Kerry, 82— Govern- 
ment statement on the latter, 8S 
—The rising In March, '57, 84— 
Proclamation, 84 — Betrayal by 
Massey, 88— Suppression of the 
March effort, 88— Noble conduct 
of the Irish Party In America to 
keep alive the Organization, 89 
— Fifth Congress, 89 — Public 
meeting in Union Square, 89 — 
Letter from Mayor Hoffman, 90 
— Efforts to effect union with the 
Canadian Party, 91- The Irish 
cause in the United States Con- 
gress, 92 — Reorganization on 
foot, 105— John Savage elected 
Chief Executive at the 6th Con- 
gress, 106 — Address on accept- 
ing office 108 

Fends between the old Irish and 

Irish of English descent 18 

'48, the New York Directory of. . . 6S 
Freeholders, forty shilling 87 

C3- 

Grattan, his career, 38 — Buried In 

Westminster, 89. 

Gray, Nicholas...^ *■ 

Gray, Philip G> 

Gray, Sir John, does not want 
Fenian speeches in Parliament, 
77— The O'Donoghne replies to. 77 
Grey, Sir George, gives the his- 
tory of Fenlanism 69 



458 



zx 



Habeat Corpus Suspended, l&JS, 
4a— Snspension in 1SC5, 69— De- 
bate on. In Parliament, 69 — 
Vote on, 78— Power for evil — 80 

Halpin.T.M *» 

Harvest, waiting for the 47 

Hoclie, Prcncli Btiip-of-war, cap- 
tured S5 

HolTman, Hon. 3. T., Mayor of 
New Torli— Letter to the great 

Fenian meeting 90 

lIope.JameB S4 

llor^ford, an English Colonel, 
baffled by Colonel O'Connor In 

Kerry 63 

Horsman, Mr., M. P., on Bright. . 16 

I 
Indiana, the Banner State of Fe- 

nianism...^. B6 

Insurrectionary movements. In 
1865, at Chester, £2— Kerry, 83 
— Drojheda, 66 — CaBtletnartyr, 
66- BalUncollig, 87— Others 
passim, 

LRB B8,61, 6S 

Ireland, her qualifications for self- 
Buetainmeut, 20— Her Insignl- 
ficance in the Empire, 21— King, 
Lords and Commons of, 21^ 
Continued excitement in, 6S— 
"Perfectly tranquil," 83— Forty 
thousand troops necesBary to 
keep it qnlct, 104— Rifled of its 

grain during the Famine ,, 43 

Irlsh-Amerlcane seized and 

searched 65 

Irish Brigade, Officers of, go to 

Ireland 64 

Irish cause, efforta to Bustaln . . , . 63 
Irish Confederation founded, 40 
— The membcrs-as rcvolution- 
Ists, 41— Forced into action, 42 
—Not a Secret Society, 42— Its 
Design, 42— Not equal to the 
crisis, 44— Enrolled men in, 44 - 
DiUvrenccs of opinion in, 45 — 



Two days' debate, 45— Excltcfl 
by the French Revoln;ion, 40 — 
Addresses the French Repub- 
lic, 46 Prevents an onlbreak. 
47— Leaders take to the hills, 47 
— Not euDlcicntly organized to 

Bght « 

Exiles, in France, B3— Spread the 
Irish cause In America, B3— 
Mistaken idea of their resources 54 
Irisk Felon, Btarted, 47- Seized.. ' 47 
Irish Government, sitting on a 

mine 65 

Irifh Legion, Officers of, go to 

Ireland M 

Irishmen with American ideas, 

dread of \ "<* 

Irish Parliament, a ^ladow of the 

English : 21 

Jrisk Ptople seized C5, 69 

Irish PBracrPLES and Enoush 

IsTEBKST, 11— Continued 61 

Irish Republic, ordered by let 
Congress, 59 -Cheered In Eng- 
land SO 

Iritk Trilmne Btarted, 47— Seized 47 



Jackson, Rev. W., his betrayal 
and death 25 

James II., 12— Distrust of his 
Irish adherents, IS— Bis vacilla- 
tion 15 

JohnBon, Dr.. on Dr. Lncas' 
eille, 19— On a Leglslatlvo 
'•Union" 30 

Johnston, General 26 

Journals, national, suppressed. . . 47 



Keams, Father Mosca, fights the 
English at Newtownbarry— 
Wounded at Enniscorthy, 26— 
Hanged 27 

Kelly. Colonel Thomas J., buc- 
cecds Stephens in directing af- 
fairs 88 

Kerry, rising at 62 



459 



LsloT, Fenton 62 

Land questions, wars growing out 

of them I* 

Lawless, William 34 

L'Estrange, Colonel, driven into . 

Newtownbarry 26 

Long, Philip, a patriotic trades- 
man of Dublin 35 

••Loyalty of the Police" 98 

Luby, T. Clarke, arrested 65 

Lucas, Dr. Charles, Dr. Johnson 



on. 



18 



■JML 



Madden, Dr. R. K-, reference to, 23, SB 
Manufactories of Fenian arms.... 73 
Martial law an incentive to riot. . 27 
Massey, Godfrey, an Informer.,., 88 

McCabe, Putnam 84 

Meagher, Gen. Thomas Francis, 
tribute to Davis, 40— Oppose* 
Mitchel's policy, 45— His voice 
for war, 46— Prevents his own 
rescue, 49— Captured and ban- 
iBhed, 43— Appeals to the New 
York Directory for funds for the 
Fenians, 63— Message of frater- 
nity to the Fenian Congress... 60 
Meehan, Mr. P. J-, Envoy to Ire- 
land, report of, to the 3d Con- 
gress :, 66 

Military Convention indorses 4th 
National Congress, 6S— Issue 

an address 68 

Mill, J- Stuart, on the Suspension 

o{ Ibc Habeas Cirpus 76 

Jlitchel, John, tril>Dte to Davis, 
40— His writings force, public 
opinion. 42— Advocates reslBt- 
ancc to the Famine policy. 45— 
Starts the VtitUd irishman 45 
— Arrested, 47— Eanithed, .47 
—His trill the time for action.. 50 

Molyncaux, Case of Ireland IS, 19 

Monseli, Mr., M. P. bis vigorous 
Speech in Parliament on the 
stale of Ireland, 50— Declares 
the Irish people all disloyal — 103 



Homing Post, London, rcnjrka- 
ble letter.ln 8T 

Murphy, Colonel Matthew 60 

Morphy, Father John, his chapel 
burned, 26— FighU the English 
at Oulart Hill, 26— At the battle* 
of Knniscorlhy, Vinegar Hill, 
Ac, 26— Hanged St 

Murphy, Father Michael, a brave 
leader against the English, 26— 
Killed at the battle of Aiklow. . S7 

Nation, the newspaper, 40, 45— 

Seized ' «: 

Natiosalitt, Irish straggle for. . U 
'98, civil war in, 27— Duration and 
Cost ol, 29— Prominence In Irish 
History, 11— Memories left by.. S» 

'98 and '48, reference to 28 

Nobility in Emmet's rebellion... 88 
O 

Oath-bonnd, the F. B, not E$ 

O'Brien, Smith, opinion of Davii, 
40— Opposes Mitchel's poUcy, 
45— Captured and banished.... 43 
O'Connell. his agitation, 38.. C»- , 
reer, compared with Grattan'a, 
sa-Dles In Genoa, 39 — Hla 

promlBCB 83 

O'Connor, Arthur SJ 

O'Connor, Co! John J., heads a 

r.sing in Kerry ...82,83 

O'Donoghne, The, defends the 
character of Fenianism in Pai^ 
liament, 77 — On the Habeam.' 

Cor/im Suspension 78' 

0"Donovan (Eossa), J., arrested. . OS 
O' Flaherty, Rev. Edward, the loss 

of M 

O'Lcary, -Tohn, arrested 63 

O'Gorman, Richard, escape of — 43 
O'Mahony, John, cfl'ort to rally 
the people, 48--Chief of the 
early Fenian Organization, 55— 
RcaBons for calling Ist Con- 
grcBS.BC-ResignsUcad Centre 
ship and is re-elected, 00 -Elect- 
ed again by 2d Congress, C2, 03 



460 



— GoM to Ireland, 64. 6S— Labors 
In America, 64— EetireB from 

Icaderthip 61 

OraDgcmcn of Ulster 78 

Otto, M., French Envoy In Eng- 
land, 34— ProlestB sgainet Eng- 

lieh abnse of Bnonapartc 82 

Oulart Hill, Enjlish defeated at. . 26 

I» 
Patriot Priests and Minlstere, 25 

Noble devotion of 26 

Patriots, Protc-tant 18 

I -Peard, Col. Robert, of Milford .... 66 
Penal Lawe, 16— Da™ on, 18— Ef- 
I fectg on the peasantry, 23— Vio- 
lated the Treaty of Limerick.. 37 

"Phoenix" Society 03 

Pile, Hon. Mr., in the Irish de- 
bate In United States Congress 95 
Pins rx., resolution of respect for 69 
Poland, Fenian sympathy with.. 69 

Porter, Rev. Wm., hanged 25 

Powder depot blown np in 1803.. 35 

Prendergaat, Rev. Father, hanged 27 

Presbyterians 23 

Priests, hnntcd 17 

Proclamation of the Irish Provis- 
ional Government In '67 84 

Protestant ** gentry " bought 81 

Parly, position and pa- 
tronage, 22 

'■ Patriots 18 

Protcetants, Englisli, fcare of. 13 

Qncen'i Speech 93 

Quiglcy, Rev. Father, hanged 27 

H, 
Redmond, Father Nicholas, flghte 

the English at Newtownbarry, 

26— hanged 27 

Reiliy, T. Devio, 45— Escapes.... 48 
, Repeal of the Union, 36— Emancl- 

pai ion, compared with 37 

Reynolds, Thomas, the Arnold of 

Ireland 23 

Ri(I;:e way, Canadian Party cn^ge 

thetroopaat 81 



Riot In Yorkshire, England, Irish • 
Republic cheered at 80 

Riots, among the Boidiers, 80 — At 
Ballincollig 67 

Rising of March, '67, betrayed by 
Mappcy— Suppression 68 

Roberts, Mr. W. R., and the "Sen- 
ate Party," 07— Move on Canada 81 

Robinson, Hon. Wm. K., speech 
on Ireland in Congress 93 

Roche, Father Philip, fights the 
English at Tubbcmeering, 26 — 
Generalissimo, 2G— banged 27 

Roebuck, Mr., M. P., on the Irish 76 

** Ro8t»a," (see J. O'Donovan ) 

Royalists, what they received af- 
ter the war of '93 29 

Rossell, Thomas, In' Pnrio, 3S— 
General-in-Chief of Ulster SI 

S 

Sarsfield, rebukes James 11. 15 

Savage, John, "'93 and '48." 28— 
Efforts to rally the people, 48 — 
Elected Chief Executive of the 
Fenian Brotherhood by the 6th 
Congress, 106 — Speech on ac- 
cepting office 10ft 

Scotch soldiers cheered for beat- 
ing English ones 83 

Secession in the Fenian Brother- 
hood 07 

Secret Society, the F. B. not*.. . 68 

Seizures on Ixiard vessels 84 

" Senate Party " differ with " the 
President," 67 — Disgraceful ro- 
Bults of the difference, 67— Its 

policy C7 

Soldiers, disaffection amongst, 65 
— Arrested, 05 — Seduction of^ 
73— Riots about Fcnianism, 86— 
Efforts of the Government to 

suppress the fact 83 

Stephens, James, undertakes tho 
organization of Irclnnd, 62 — Re- 
ceives a commission from Nc\t 
York, 03— Declared Chief Eiccu- 



461 



tlve of the Irish Republic by Ist 
Congress, 59— Comes to Ameri- 
ca In 1358, 03— Spends a couple 
of years in France, 63— Returns 
to Ireland, 04 — Labors and snc- 
ccss, 64— Reward offered for, 65 
— Arrest and escape, 08 — Ar- 
rives in New York, 1806, 81— 
Headed off by tlie Canadian Par- 
ty. 81— Makes promises. 81— Hie 

mission a failure 82 

SIcvelly, Rev. Mr , hanged 25 

Sinifgllng nations, the right of 

An.cricans to aid them 57 

Btuarts, the, Irish policy of, 12— 
Restoration of, 14 — An ungrate- 
ful race 14 

Swift's Drapier Lrttcri, 18, 19—. 
On falsification of Irish afljairi. . 79 
T 
Talleyrand, 31— Views on Ireland 39 
The INSUREECTIOS IK Ibklamd, 

l^<i5 80 

The people not prepared in '48... 49 
The rising of 5Ih March, 1867, 64 

—Public agitation created by . . . 88 
The Stkuggle fob Ibish Na- 
tionality 11 

Tone, Theobald Wolfe, gives a 
character to Irish politics, 19— 
His views, 20— On the revolu- 
tion of '82, 21— Aspires to ele- 
vate the Catholics, 23— Key to 
his principles, 24— Boldness of 
his plan. 25— Founds the United 
Irish Society, 25— Captured, 25 
Uifl expedition to Ireland, 29— 

As a political writer 41 

Treason-Felony Act, passage of.. 46 

" Union " with England, 59- char- 
acter of, 23— Dr. Johnson on, SO 
—Lord Byron on, 30— How car- 



ried, 31-Repeal of, 30— Its mla 
to Ireland, 87-Bright on 7» 

Union Square, public Fenian de- 
monstration at 60 

Union, the, defended by the Fe- 
nians M 

Vnittd /risAman, the Journal. ...45,47 

United Irishmen forced to a 
premature rising, 27 — Great 
chances of their succesi SS 

United Irish Society pertsecnted 
Into secrecy ** 



Vessels searched by the anthorl- 
tles 8* 

Vote on the Irish resolution In 
United SUtes Congreaa W 

Walpole, Colonel, killed at Tul>- 

bemeering * 

Warwich, Rev. Mr., hanged 85 

Washbnm, Hon. Mr., of Wiscon- 
sin « 

■William of Orange U 

Wodebonse, Lord Lieutenant of 
Ireland, describes the terror of 
the authorities and the extent 
of the conspiracy, 70— Colli for 
the Suspension of the Habeat 
Corpus, 71— Declares It the only 

safety of the English 3 

Wood's, Hon. Fernando, speech 
in favor of the Fenian Brother- 
hood. * 

Young Ireland, 39, 40— Compared 
with the men of '98, 41— Earl of 
Derby on. 46— Disbanded, bnt 
not defeated, 61— What It 
achieved, 62— Its servicee oiler 
dleruptlon 6J 



II.IJJ|I||I.,J JJ.«.Jl"MJI".',-^.«WI 



